Coquille wild coho fishery closes Monday

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

(CHARLESTON, Ore.) - This is the last weekend of the season to fish for wild coho in the Coquille River. Beginning Monday, Oct. 11, the fishery will be closed because the harvest quota of 1,200 fish is projected to be met, ODFW fishery managers said.

"Earlier this week, the harvest estimate approached 80 percent of the allowable quota. With the rains coming Friday night, coho will be on the move and, with higher weekend effort, we're projecting a high catch rate this weekend," said Mike Gray, ODFW fish biologist. "It's been a fantastic season, and we're glad we could give people the opportunity to take a wild coho salmon."

ODFW received approval from NOAA Fisheries Service to implement conservative harvest on ESA-listed coho salmon, for populations that meet certain criteria. The ability to implement fisheries on listed coho depends on managing the harvest within allowable quotas.

The Coquille River remains open for fall chinook and hatchery steelhead. The fall chinook fishery continues to be excellent in the Coquille River this season.