By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle
Oregon’s season for fall Chinook in coastal bays and rivers officially opens Friday with forecasts of good returns for both Chinook and coho salmon.
But Mother Nature may determine whether fishing success is any good or possibly shut down to protect salmon caught in low-water coastal streams.
Lincoln County is in a severe drought with most rivers extremely low for this time of year. And that has state biologists worried.
“We are at historic minimum flows across mid-coast streams,” said John Spangler, the regional fish biologist on the central Oregon coast for the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. “We’ve had a lot of low water years, but this is the worst.”
So while the ODFW and Spangler are forecasting good salmon returns, when fish begin moving and if they get stuck in low, warm water above tidewater is the biggest concern. Not only would that affect returning, spawning salmon but also juvenile fish that spend months growing in their native streams before heading to the ocean.
“We’re certainly in a wait-and-see mode,” Spangler said. “I certainly hope there’s a good rain.”
But climate change, he said, has meant that a once-typical coast August rainfall of an inch or so is occurring less and less often.
Mother Nature aside, if and when it does rain, salmon fishing on mid-coast streams is expected to be as good or better than the past two years. The 2022 season was also affected by low-water issues.
“The mid-coast has really good abundance of chinook and coho and we have the most liberal catch rules” compared with streams on the north and south coasts, Spangler said.
While the chinook season officially begins Friday, fishing for coho salmon does not open until Sept. 13 – if the ODFW commission approves the season at its Aug. 15 meeting. ODFW’s proposed coho regulations also require approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is expected before Aug. 15.
The 2025 forecasted ocean numbers for Oregon coast wild coho is 289,000 fish, up from about 232,000 last year and the largest forecast since 2012, ODFW says. Proposed wild coho limits for 2025 are similar to 2024, with additional fishing days in some rivers due to the strong forecast. One exception is the Umpqua River, where no wild coho fishery is proposed.
The forecasted good returns will keep season bag limits at three for all central coast streams – including the Alsea River this year. But the Alsea again has a split coho season to give coho a two-week window to move farther upriver.
For most mid-coast streams, the season limit for Chinook salmon is 10 fish this summer and fall. That’s half of what it was in 2021 and 2022 but double what it was in 2019 and 2020.
Except for hatchery salmon that return to the Salmon River in north Lincoln County, the fall Chinook that enter coastal bays and streams are wild fish that depend on a natural spawning cycle before leaving rivers each spring to spend 3-5 years in the ocean.
Fishermen sometimes link ocean fishing for Chinook with how runs will be in coastal streams. But the Chinook that return to coastal streams are different. Chinook being caught now in the ocean are headed north to the Columbia River or south to the Klamath and Sacramento rivers.
Chinook headed to coastal rivers originate in water off Alaska and Canada.
Rivers and rules
Alsea River and bay/Drift Creek:
Fall Chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: Two per day and 10 for the season; Catch totals from 2022 through 2024 ranged from 3,151 to 3,315.
Wild coho: Sept. 13 to Oct. 12 and Oct. 25 to Nov. 7. One per day and three for the season – an increase from two for the season last year. From the mouth upstream to the Forest Service’s River Edge campground boat landing. Drift Creek from the mouth upstream to the lower wilderness boundary. Catch total in 2024 was 1,168.
Siletz River and Drift Creek:
Fall Chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: Two per day and 10 for the season; Catch totals from 2022 to 2024 ranged from 2,510 to 4,195;
Wild coho: One per day and three for the season; Sep.13 to Oct.7: Siletz River from the mouth upstream to an ODFW marker sign approximately 1,200 feet upstream of the Ojalla Bridge, then Oct. 8 to Nov.14 from the mouth upstream to the Illahee boat ramp. Drift Creek from the mouth upstream to the steel bridge entering Mennonite Camp. Schooner Creek from the mouth upstream to the confluence with Erickson Creek. Catch total in 2024 was 1,297.
Salmon River:
Fall Chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: Two per day and 10 for the season; Catch totals from 2022 through 2024 ranged from 606 to 1,333. Catch total in 2024 was 38.
Yachats River:
Fall Chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: One fish per day and two for the season; Catch totals from 2022 to 2024 ranged from 39 to 66;
Wild coho: Closed.
Yaquina River and Big Elk Creek:
Fall Chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: Two per day and 10 for the season; Catch totals from 2022 to 2024 ranged from 434 to 502;
Wild coho: Sept. 13 to Oct. 10: One per day and three for the season. Yaquina Bay and river upstream to the confluence with Simpson Creek. Big Elk Creek from the mouth upstream to the confluence with Bear Creek. Coho catch in 2024 was 1,885.
Beaver Creek:
This small, short stream north of Seal Rock has a special wild coho fishery Nov. 1-30. One per day and three for the season. From the walking bridge at Ona Beach State Park upstream to the confluence with South Fork Beaver Creek. Coho catch in 2024 was 165.
Siuslaw River/North Fork Siuslaw and Sweet Creek:
Fall chinook: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31: One per day and two for the season; Catch totals from 2023 to 2024 ranged 2,228 to 2,358;
Wild coho: Sept. 13 to Oct. 14. One fish per day and three for the season. Siuslaw River from the mouth upstream to the confluence with Lake Creek. North Fork Siuslaw River from the mouth upstream to Meadows Bridge. Sweet Creek from the mouth upstream to the head of tidewater. Catch total in 2024 was 4,296.
- Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
