Oregon and Washington fishery managers announced today that they will open a July recreational sturgeon fishery on the Columbia River.

Anglers will be able to fish for and keep sturgeon on the mainstem Columbia from Buoy 10 upstream to the Wauna powerlines on the following days: Thursday, July 10 through Saturday, July 12; Thursday, July 17 through Saturday, July 19; and Saturday, July 26 through Sunday, July 27

The daily bag limit remains one fish per day and five per year. Only fish between 45 and 60 inches long can be kept.

“This is rare that we’re fishing for sturgeon on the Columbia River in mid-July,” said Steve Williams, ODFW fish division deputy director. “Catch rates were lower than expected so we can give anglers additional opportunities to catch a sturgeon.

“With better weather in July and higher water temperatures fishing should be good,” Williams added.

The decision to open an additional sturgeon season was made by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington, which co-manage fisheries on the Columbia River. Managers estimated that when the current sturgeon season ended on June 24, there were still 4,200 sturgeon available for harvest.

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