Summer run salmon numbers over Bonneville Dam have taken a turn for the better. When I looked at the daily return and graph from the Fish Passage Center, I noticed a sharp increase in the summer runs. This is great news for those who chase these prized fish on the upper Columbia River. Last year the forecast was for just 38,000 fish and over 43,000 showed up. Still, we had a very curtailed fishing season, with fishing limited to specific “bubble” fisheries, and closed in most areas of the upper Columbia. This year’s forecast is for 41,000 and hopefully they will exceed this number. The ten-year average for summer runs is just over 70,000 fish. By June 30th we should see fifty percent of the run over Bonneville, and we will have a better picture of what to expect for the 2026 season. Another thing to consider is that the WDFW managers of the Columbia take a closer look at the actual passage of summer runs over Priest Rapids Dam to determine the season. In the past, if the numbers were weak over Bonneville, for both salmon and steelhead, they would write the seasons off.