Pacific Northwest Fishing Report — Week of September 17, 2026: Fall Chinook Moving Up the Columbia, Coho in the Tributaries, Albacore Still Offshore

Pacific Northwest fishing report for the week of September 17, 2026. The Buoy 10 fishery has wound down and the fall chinook run has moved upriver, with good counts passing Bonneville and the first fish reaching the Hanford Reach. Coho are entering the coastal rivers and the Puget Sound tributaries with the first rain, and the albacore fleet is still finding fish offshore on the calm days.

What’s Hitting

This week the fall chinook are the headline. Upriver brights are moving through the Columbia Gorge and into the Hanford Reach, with the fishery at the mouth of the Deschutes, the Klickitat, and the Reach itself producing fish from 15 to 30 pounds. Coho are entering the coastal rivers from the Nehalem to the Siuslaw and the Puget Sound rivers, including the Skagit and the Snohomish, with the first real pushes on the recent rain. Coho are also still 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 are 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 are showing in the Deschutes.

Where to Find Them

Chinook are in the Columbia 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 are in the tidewater and lower reaches of the coastal rivers, moving on each rain, and in the lower Skagit and Snohomish. Puget Sound coho are off the piers and along the shoreline at Edmonds, Point No Point, and Possession Bar. Albacore are on the 60-degree water offshore. Steelhead are in the lower Deschutes.

Tides & Conditions

River flows are low and clear on most systems, with the coastal rivers rising briefly on each front and then dropping back. The Columbia is at low fall flow and clear, and water temps have dropped into the low 60s in the Gorge, which has the fish moving well. Offshore, seas have been 3 to 5 feet with a moderate northwest wind, and the albacore runs have been possible on the calmer days.

Tackle & Tactics

For upriver chinook, a Super Bait or a 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. Coho in the rivers want a spinner, a twitching jig, or a bobber and eggs in the tidewater and the lower holes. Puget Sound pier coho want a Buzz Bomb or a herring under a float. Albacore want 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. Coastal river access is at the county ramps on each system, and Puget Sound shore anglers are catching coho from the Edmonds and Seattle fishing piers and the Point No Point beach. Fish are concentrating in the Gorge and the Reach and in the lower coastal rivers on each rain. Salmon seasons and bag limits change frequently by river section; check current ODFW and WDFW emergency rules 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 hold in the deeper bends as it turns, and a spinner worked through those bends on the change of tide gets far more attention than the same spinner at mid-tide.

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