Washington closed the nearshore ocean salmon fishery off the Long Beach Peninsula on Aug. 13, pulling the plug on one of the most productive stretches of water on the coast just as the Buoy 10 fishery inside the Columbia River mouth reached its annual peak.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shut the inshore portion of Marine Area 1, a strip running roughly from the mid-mouth of the Columbia north and out about three miles. The agency's stated reason was blunt.
"Chinook catches have been higher than expected in Marine Area 1," WDFW said. "Chinook fishing near shore has been particularly effective. Closing this near-shore area to salmon fishing will reduce Chinook catch, increasing the likelihood that sufficient Chinook guideline will remain, allowing for salmon fisheries later in the season."
The North Jetty stays open, which is where much of that displaced effort has gone.
The closure lands in the middle of a season charter operators are describing in superlatives. Butch Smith, owner of Coho Charters, which is in its 70th year at the Port of Ilwaco, watched customers come off the F/V Coho Mooch on Aug. 15 carrying two-fish limits.
"The fishing has been amazing all season long, from the very beginning," Smith told the Chinook Observer. "It's been a really great year for Chinook (king) salmon this year, and that's always a bonus. It's coming toward the end, but hopefully we can keep it open for another couple weeks."
"The closer we can get to Labor Day (Monday, Sept 7), the better off we are," he said. "That's the first goal, to make it to Labor Day. After that, every day on the ocean is a bonus."
Steve Sohlstrom, who runs Sea Breeze Charters and its seven-vessel fleet, went further.
"Based on the success we have seen firsthand this year, 2026 will go down the record books as the best salmon season dating more than 25 years," Sohlstrom said. "Chinook have ruled the day, where many of our boats have limited on Chinook and coho day after day. The size of the Chinook has been impressive!"
The creel numbers back the enthusiasm. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife samplers estimated 25,515 boat trips and 1,472 bank trips at Buoy 10 through Aug. 16, with 11,005 Chinook and 3,461 coho kept. Through the same date in 2025, the figures were 18,716 boat trips and 6,980 Chinook. Anglers also released 6,914 Chinook and 1,722 coho this year, a reminder that mark-selective rules are doing a lot of work in that estuary.
Fish size has climbed through the summer as well. The biggest king on the Ilwaco salmon derby board in week one weighed 16.10 pounds. By week eight, Lisa LeClaire had put a 21.70-pounder on the scale, and the top coho had gone from 5.9 pounds to 9.35.
Not everything about 2026 has been kind. Marine diesel that Smith bought in January at $284 a fill was costing him $538 by mid-season, with prices touching $5 to $6 a gallon in spring.
"It caught us all by surprise," he said. "There's only so much we can pass on to our customers. So we simply had to pull back on our throttles to make it a little more economical."
