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Coho Make a Late Push by Staff Lewiston Tribune, October 12, 2025

Survival is expected to be affected by elevated water temperatures in Snake and Columbia rivers

The number of coho passing Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River is on the rise but the run will likely be affected by warm water temperatures.

Becky Johnson, production director for the Nez Perce Tribe’s Department of Fisheries Resources, said about 18,700 coho bound for the Snake River have been detected passing Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

She is hopeful about 50%, or 9,000 to 10,000, will make it all the way back. Coho, just like fall chinook and steelhead, were slow to move up the two rivers in the late summer and early fall because of water temperatures that were well above average.

In a normal year, about 70% of the coho that pass Bonneville Dam will make it at least as far as Lower Granite Dam.

“The passage delays in the lower river have been a real challenge,” she said.

Fall chinook were also slowed by the elevated temperatures, so much so that Idaho, Washington and Oregon briefly curtailed harvest of wild fish.

Johnson said enough fall chinook have been trapped at Lower Granite Dam to make broodstock goals at Lyons Ferry and Nez Pere Tribal hatcheries.

Related Pages:
Coho Again to Open in Snake's Lower Hells Canyon by Andy Walgamott, Northwest Sportsman, 10/5/23