The agency that oversees fall salmon fishing on the Oregon coast has come out with its recommendations for the fall Chinook and coho salmon season.
The biggest change recommended by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife staff for the central coast is the shutdown of coho retention in the Alsea River basin because return projections are below forecasts needed to sustain natural and federally protected production. The retention of wild coho on the Alsea had been open the past two years, with fishermen able to keep three fish last year. Otherwise, except for the Siuslaw River, there is little change for central coast river basins.
The 2026 wild fall Chinook and coho fishing regulations for coastal rivers will be set by the ODFW commission during its June 26 meeting in Redmond. The public can preview the rules and comment on them using an ODFW form until June 23.
The ODFW announced last week that retention of wild Chinook salmon will be open in 18 coastal basins, with season dates ranging from July through December.
Proposed regulations for 2026 would increase wild Chinook limits in the Siuslaw, Necanicum, Nehalem, Tillamook, and Umpqua basins and reduce the limit in the Nestucca basin. Catch limits in other basins are proposed to be the same as in 2025. The Coquille and Elk rivers will be open only for hatchery Chinook due to conservation concerns.
Wild coho fisheries are proposed for 10 coastal basins in addition to seasons in Siltcoos, Tahkenitch, and Tenmile lakes with season dates ranging from mid-September through December.
The 2026 forecasted ocean abundance of wild coho salmon is 218,600 fish, down from a forecast of 289,000 fish in 2025. Except for the Alsea basin, all coastal streams are proposed to be open to wild coho retention with the bag limits the same as in 2025 — one fish per day and three per season in the river systems and one fish per day and five for the season for the three lakes.
