FISHING -- "Fishing for fall chinook in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River continues to be excellent," says Paul Hoffarth, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife regional wildlife biologist in the Tri-Cities.  Here's the rest of his report with numbers from the past week.

Harvest for the week was estimated at 5,958 fall chinook (5,680 adults and 278 jacks).  WDFW estimates there were 6,838 anglers fishing in the Hanford Reach this past week. To date, 25,631 adult chinook and 1,306 jacks have been harvested in the Hanford Reach by the 40,235 anglers.

Effort dropped off a bit this past week with the opening of the hunting seasons.  Fish were harvested throughout the Hanford Reach with the best catch per boat at White Bluffs, Ringold, and Vernita at 2.8 fish per boat.  Anglers fishing in the Tri-cities averaged 1.3 chinook per boat.  Overall, anglers fishing in the Hanford Reach average 2.4 chinook per boat, 7.4 angler hours per fish, slightly better than the week prior. Bank anglers are picking up a few fall chinook each day at the Ringold Springs Access area.  This past week 63 chinook were harvested off the bank.

WDFW staff interviewed 2,412 anglers from 856 boats and 198 bank anglers fishing for fall chinook in the Hanford Reach.   

The in-season run update (Oct 7) for the Hanford Reach continues to predict a record escapement of over 200,000 adult chinook.