Buoy 10 Fishing Forecast
This is the time of year when 2026 Buoy 10 Salmon and ocean abundance numbers for Astoria begin to get tossed around in the Buoy 10 forecast. While numbers aren’t official, I’m hearing some good things for this year’s possibilities. More numbers and information will be coming soon, but let’s start off with the 2025 preliminary returns. It looks like the 2025 adult Columbia River Chinook return was over 650,000 fish, which is 91% of the 2025 forecast. We like numbers like that! And right now ODFW/WDFW are saying that 2026 Columbia River fall salmon forecast will be similar to last year’s. That’s what we like to hear, especially if it gives us more fish and a longer Chinook season on the Columbia River.
Chinook Salmon
I’ll start with Chinook since those are the first numbers we see each year. If things are similar to last year, we’re looking at a Preliminary Forecast of over 700k Columbia River Fall Chinook for 2026. Nothing is official yet as it’s very early in the process, and we’ll update numbers as they come in. That’s a huge deal for sure as I’ve seen some pretty cataclysmic fishing at 400k. I mean Richter scale rattling fishing. Like, can’t get all your rods in the water as you’re rolling through the Red Roof, Church, and Tunnel. Yes, that kind of fishing. If you were out on the water last fall, you know what I’m talking about. Right now the powers that be are working out a plan for the 2026 Buoy 10 season and we’re hoping that it gives us the best opportunities possible for our season in Astoria. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding season regulations and we’ll keep you up to speed as announcements are made. That being said, it’s never too early to book your Buoy 10 fishing trip. But there’s always more to the story. Chinook aren’t the only salmon species we target.
Coho Salmon
We’ll have to wait a bit to see the 2026 preliminary forecast for Columbia River Coho salmon. WDFW has some early numbers out for the 2025 returns and overall we had some fantastic Coho fishing last year. Between the ocean and Columbia River, Buoy 10 had nice opportunities from the ocean opener in June through October. Just a bit upriver, from Warrior Rock to Bonneville, we had the 3rd highest number of Coho ever kept on record! What is 2026 going to look like? We’ll know more in the coming months. I’m hoping our ocean season in July and early August is going to be fuego. Serious fuego. Like carnage asada type fuego. For a lot of folks that have never seen what this looks like, if 2026 is similar to the past few years of Coho fishing, you’ll get a chance to see it this year. And the action doesn’t slow down once the Coho get to the Columbia. We’ll just keep targeting bright silvers clear through October in Astoria. Coho fishing and Dungeness crabbing…what a great way to spend a fall day on the water.
Our summer salmon fishing leading up to Buoy 10 is when it all starts. The ocean should open around the 19th or 26th of June. Just guessing, but it should be in that neighborhood. With decent forecasts of Summer Chinook, and a very early preliminary forecast of over half a million fall Chinook heading our way, it should be game on from the get go. Yes, we have conditions to deal with, and who knows where the cold water will be during the summer, but given the opportunity to get out, we should be able to enjoy some pretty incredible fishing.
I’ll keep you all updated with what I’m hearing. I know we’re all itching to get out on the water. The official season dates and details should be announced in April. Let us know if you have any questions or would like to book a trip. We’re here to help in any way we can.