Spring Chinook fishing trips near Portland Oregon are almost here!!! I almost thought that spring was coming early this year. Then it snowed on Valentine’s Day and it just keeps coming. So when is spring going to get here, I am hoping around the first part of March. Mid-March is when I will start testing the waters for Columbia River Spring Chinook. Doing this will help me figure out if it is worth running guided trips or not. Most of my early guided spring Chinook trips will be near or around Portland Oregon / Vancouver or Ridgefield Washington. 2018 Columbia River Spring Chinook forecast is to be 220,000 over Bonneville Dam. This is a great spring chinook forecast in comparison to 2017.

Guided spring Chinook salmon fishing charter trips will most likely start the last week in March, continuing into the first part of April. This year the Columbia River will most likely not have the magnitude of water flow like 2017. Having less water will hopefully get the Salmon to show up on time, giving use good opportunity in March.

Once the Columbia River is closed for retention I will head to the Willamette River and or Drano Lake, which is my standard routine. The Willamette River this year is forecast is to get back 58,000 spring Chinook, which I did fish a couple weeks last year. I fished a couple locations on the Willamette targeting springers near Oregon City and St. Johns area; I was very successful in both places.

Drano Lake / Little White Salmon River is excepting a return of 10,200 spring Chinook, which is more than last year and last year the fishing was great. Drano Lake spring Chinook salmon is my most popular fishery for guided trips. Drano Lake fishing usually starts the last week in April and fishes well into the last week in of May. This is a fishery you will want to book in advance.