Updated: Thursday, September 17, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, September 24, 2026
This Pacific Northwest fishing report covers mid-September, as Buoy 10 winds down and fall chinook move upriver. Upriver chinook are the lead target, with good counts passing Bonneville and the first fish reaching the Hanford Reach. Coho enter the coastal rivers and Puget Sound tributaries with each rain, and the albacore fleet still finds fish offshore on calm days. Plan around river flows, which run low and clear between fronts and rise briefly with each rain.
What’s Hitting
Upriver brights move through the Columbia Gorge and into the Hanford Reach, and the Deschutes mouth, the Klickitat and the Reach give up fish from 15 to 30 pounds. Coho push into the coastal rivers from the Nehalem to the Siuslaw and into the Puget Sound rivers, including the Skagit and the Snohomish, with the first real pushes coming on the rain.
Coho also linger in the ocean off Westport and Ilwaco for the last of the ocean season, and in the Sound off the Edmonds and Seattle piers. Albacore roam 30 to 60 miles off the Oregon and Washington coasts on the warm-water breaks. Sturgeon are steady in the lower Columbia for catch-and-release, and the first steelhead show in the Deschutes.
Where to Find Them
Target chinook at the mouth of the Deschutes, off the Klickitat, around the Bonneville and The Dalles tailraces, and in the Hanford Reach around Vernita and Ringold. Coho sit in the tidewater and lower reaches of the coastal rivers and move upstream on each rain; also look in the lower Skagit and Snohomish. In Puget Sound, coho cruise off the piers and along the shoreline at Edmonds, Point No Point and Possession Bar. Find albacore on the 60-degree water offshore and steelhead in the lower Deschutes.
Tides & Conditions
Expect low, clear flows on most systems, with the coastal rivers rising briefly on each front and then dropping back. The Columbia sits at low fall flow and clear, and Gorge water temps in the low 60s keep the fish moving well. Offshore, seas run 3 to 5 feet with a moderate northwest wind; pick the calmer days for albacore.
Tackle & Tactics
- Upriver chinook: a Super Bait or wrapped Kwikfish back-trolled through the holes, a spinner cast to the seams, or a bobber and eggs in the slower water, on a heavy casting rod with 50-pound braid.
- River coho: a spinner, a twitching jig, or a bobber and eggs in the tidewater and the lower holes.
- Puget Sound pier coho: a Buzz Bomb or a herring under a float.
- Albacore: trolled clones and cedar plugs, then live anchovies once the school is stopped.
Local Intel This Week
The Heritage Landing ramp at the Deschutes mouth, the Hood River and The Dalles public ramps, and the Vernita Bridge and Ringold ramps on the Hanford Reach are the main launches for the upriver chinook fishery. Use Vernita Bridge for the upper Reach. Coastal river access is at the county ramps on each system, and Puget Sound shore anglers work the Edmonds and Seattle fishing piers and the Point No Point beach for coho. Salmon rules change often by river section. Check current state and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
For coastal coho, fish the tidewater on the rising tide and the first hour of the outgoing. Fresh fish push into the tidewater on the flood and settle into the deeper bends as it turns, and a spinner worked through those bends on the change of tide draws far more attention than the same spinner at mid-tide.
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