Columbia River anglers get four days
to catch sturgeon in Bonneville Pool
OLYMPIA – Columbia River anglers will be allowed to catch and keep white sturgeon in the Bonneville Pool four days in June under an agreement reached Tuesday (May 14) by fishery managers from Washington and Oregon.
The fishery will open to legal-size sturgeon June 14-15 and June 21-22 in the Columbia River and its tributaries from Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam.
Only white sturgeon measuring 38 inches to 54 inches (fork length) may be retained.
The sturgeon fishery in the Bonneville Pool has been restricted to catch-and-release fishing only, because the catch guideline for the early season was met last winter. A balance of 700 fish are still available for harvest this summer under the annual harvest guideline of 1,100 for those waters.
Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said fishery managers will closely monitor the catch to determine if the harvest guideline will accommodate additional retention fishing in the Bonneville Pool.
Yep, be running to have a final go at my favorite fish! Should be lights out, warm water and huge summer bites... Right on!