My wife, daughters and I had not been camping in almost a year, so when we packed for our four day trip, one of us (meaning me) was bound to forget something like camp chairs, matches, shower slippers or a sweater — maybe even all four.
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By Labor Day and through the month of September, nearly a million fall chinook (960,000 to be exact) will be migrating through the lower and Mid-Columbia on their way to upriver spawning grounds. And while the sport fishery at the mouth of the Columbia, known as Buoy 10, will be mostly over by Labor Day the action along the Mid-Columbia will be peaking through September.
The northern pikeminnow bounty fishery got underway in a big way this year, with 7,523 fish caught in The Dalles area during the first full week of fishing, according to data provided by the Bonneville Power Administration. In the John Day Dam area, 823 fish were caught in the same time period.
I was outnumbered, what with my single red-and-white spinner competing against four herring as we trolled near the Astoria-Megler Bridge. I knew my friends, all confirmed bait addicts, wondered if I was losing it a little when I’d traded my herring in for a spinner as we began our downstream troll a half-hour earlier.
September is harvest time for salmon and steelhead along the Mid-Columbia, and with huge numbers of Chinook, Coho and Steelhead migrating up the Columbia River past Hood River and The Dalles, now is your chance to capture one of these monster fish.
Many people from Western Oregon are surprised when they find out that slugs not only survive in our hot, dry, windy climate here in The Dalles, but can cause significant damage.
Yep, right now there are winter steelheads to be caught throughout the region, but all the chatter is about spring chinook, since managers pegged the Columbia run at 300,000. The big run has everyone from Astoria to Lewiston, Idaho, excited about catching and eating these scrumptious fish, which average 10-14 pounds and can tip the scale at 25 pounds or more.
SALEM, Ore.— With trapping seasons underway in Oregon, dog owners need to be aware that there could be traps in areas where they are hiking with their dogs. Dogs running loose have accidentally been captured in legally set traps, causing injury or even death to the dog.
For the last several weeks, I’ve been preparing for trout season. Of course, there has been no small amount of encouragement; our two boys (I mean young men; sons Wade and Blake are now 20 and 23), remembering all the fun we had last year reminded me they’d like to go again
The annual Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program runs from May 1 to Sept. 30 this year on the Columbia River. The program, funded by Bonneville Power Administration, pays anglers for catching, keeping and turning in pikeminnow (also known as “northern squawfish”), which are known to have significant negative impact on juvenile salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake river systems.
