Summer Chinook Opening as Spring Push Tapers on the Lower Columbia

What's Biting

What's Next

**Flow and Temperature Trajectory**

At 127,000 cfs, the Columbia is running at a moderate-to-elevated pace for mid-June, down from the spring snowmelt peak but still moving with force. Flows at this stage typically ease gradually through the back half of June as upper-basin storage fills and meltwater contributions taper. Expect fishable but fast water through the weekend; back eddies and current seams behind wing dams and mid-river islands will concentrate fish and offer more manageable drifts than the main channel push.

**Chinook Salmon**

At 63°F, the river sits at the upper edge of comfortable range for spring Chinook, which prefer temperatures in the mid-50s. Any fish still actively pushing upriver will be moving quickly and holding in the coldest available water, typically the deepest channel slots. The meaningful opportunity over the next two to three weeks shifts to early summer Chinook, which begin showing in stronger numbers at Bonneville and through the Columbia Gorge into late June and July. Back-trolling plugs and drifting cured eggs or prawns near depth transitions are the standard approaches as fish move through. Confirm the current retention window before heading out, as hatchery-only rules and adjustment periods apply through this transition.

**New Moon Bite Windows**

Tonight's new moon kicks off a period of reduced ambient light over the next several nights, which historically produces stronger salmon and sturgeon bites at first light and late evening when fish feed more freely. Plan arrival at the water before sunrise and consider staying through the first hour of full light. Dusk through dark is the secondary window worth planning around.

**White Sturgeon**

The new moon timing also favors sturgeon. Bottom-bouncing with sand shrimp, smelt, or herring in the deeper troughs and slow-water eddies below the main current is the approach to use at these flows. Larger fish tend to vacate exposed current and hold tight to the bottom in protected structure. Only a narrow fork-length slot is typically legal for retention on the Columbia, so expect most fish contacted to be released, but hookup rates on white sturgeon during low-light June conditions can be solid.

**Summer Steelhead**

Early summer steelhead begin trickling into the lower Columbia in June, though numbers remain light until July. A summer-run fish is possible as a bonus target during a mid-river trip, and distribution into mainstem and tributary holding water picks up meaningfully as the month progresses.

Context

Mid-June is a classic shoulder season on the lower Columbia. The spring Chinook run, which drives the most intense fishing pressure of the Oregon salmon season from late March through May, is winding toward its close. Escapement goals and hatchery-fish accounting shift the legal picture week to week at this point in the calendar, and retention opportunities narrow considerably compared to peak spring conditions.

The 63°F reading from USGS gauge 14105700 aligns with typical mid-June norms for this stretch. The Columbia warms gradually relative to smaller coastal rivers, moderated by its volume and cold reservoir releases from upriver dams. Historically, temperatures climb toward 65 to 68°F by early July, compressing the productive first-light Chinook window and pushing the most active biting into the early morning hours.

At 127,000 cfs, flows sit in a moderate range for mid-June. Year-to-year variability on the Columbia is significant: high-snowpack seasons can sustain flows above 200,000 cfs well into June, while drought years see the river drop below 100,000 cfs before July. This week's reading suggests a normal late-spring drawdown in progress, not an extreme in either direction.

For sturgeon, historical patterns point to June through August as a productive mainstem season, particularly in the pools below the lower-river dams where fish concentrate in deep holding water. The white sturgeon fishery has been managed with slot limits for decades to protect large, reproductively active fish, meaning consistent hookups are plausible even when salmon fishing softens.

No intel from this week's regional feeds directly benchmarks this season against prior years for salmon or sturgeon on the Columbia. This note draws on gauge data and established seasonal patterns for the river.