Deschutes river and Columbia river fish counts update

UPDATE: We're at the 10809 non-clipped steelhead passage number with a few days left in July, which will keep the Deschutes open for Steelheading fishing through September 15th. Now, we look to hit the 23100 number by the end of August to be able to fish through the end of the year on the D. Josh has updated the passage numbers below.

2023 is forecast to be another year of poor fish returns to the Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Deschutes. Currently, the Deschutes is open for steelheading, but it isn't a guarantee that it will continue to be. Again like last year, there are several benchmarks that need to be hit to keep the river open. 

At this point, the river will be open at least till August 15. For the river to stay open, there will need to be 9,900 unclipped fish passed over Bonneville Dam 7/1-7/31. If that number is hit, then the river will stay open till September 15. The next benchmark is 7/1-8/31; there will need to be 23,100 unclipped fish passed over Bonneville, which will allow the river to stay open for the rest of the year.  

Here is a link to that information on the ODFW website. 

ODFW Framework  

So at this point, if the fish passage continues, we should hit that number. Currently, we have passed 7648 unclipped fish, which is basically the same as last year and about 700 less than our 10-year average.