If you have heard, the Entiat River opened to summer Chinook fishing. Here are the details:
Location: Entiat River (Chelan County) from the mouth (railroad bridge) to the Mad River Road Bridge crossing the Entiat River (near Ardenvoir). Salmon Rules: Minimum size 12 inches. Daily limit six Chinook. Release all salmon other than Chinook. Night closure in effect. Reason for action: On July 6, the U.S. versus Oregon Technical Advisory Committee met and downgraded the Columbia River summer Chinook run size to 38,600. This downgrade also decrease the recreational harvest allocation to the point of being unfeasible to open a mainstem Columbia River fishery. While the harvest allocation is insufficient to offer mainstem fishing opportunities, WDFW can open the Entiat River which typically harvests between 100-400 fish. This fishery also has a conservation benefit of removing hatchery-origin summer Chinook from the spawning grounds to reduce impacts to ESA-listed spring Chinook. I am getting questions about whether or not a bubble fishery would open at Chelan Falls this season. The latest downgrade pretty much puts an end to any speculation. I thought the run was stronger than last year until I learned the process of run estimation. My report for Wednesday explains how the run estimates and season setting is done.