The lower Grande Ronde River will re-open for an additional three days of fishing for spring chinook salmon beginning Saturday, July 5.

Fishing will re-open through Monday (July 7) from the Highway 129 Bridge upstream approximately 12 miles to the farthest upstream Oregon/Washington boundary line.

In late June, the lower Grande Ronde River was opened briefly for spring chinook fishing for the first time in 40 years. Fishery managers in Washington and Oregon wanted to test the feasibility of the fishery and hoped to increase the harvest of hatchery fish destined for the Lostine River in Oregon, said John Whalen, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) eastern region fish program manager.

“We had fewer anglers participate in the fishery than we would have liked, so we’ve decided to re-open it for three more days,” Whalen said.

Anglers will have a daily catch limit of seven hatchery chinook salmon (marked by a clipped adipose fin), only two of which can be adult chinook. Anglers must stop fishing for the day when they reach their daily limit of adult hatchery chinook salmon.

In addition, anglers must use barbless hooks no larger than 5/8 inch from point to shank. A night closure also is in effect.

Anglers cannot remove any chinook salmon from the water unless it is retained as part of the daily catch limit.

To participate in this fishery, anglers must possess a valid 2014-15 fishing license and a Columbia River Salmon/Steelhead Endorsement. Revenue from the endorsement supports salmon or steelhead seasons on many rivers in the Columbia River system, including enforcing fishery regulations and monitoring the upper Columbia River spring chinook fisheries.

The Grande Ronde River fishery is co-managed by Washington and Oregon under concurrent fishing regulations.

For this limited fishery, anglers should check regulations listed on WDFW’s fishing rule change webpage at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/.