If there’s one thing to be excited about in 2021, this is it! Northwest salmon managers are projecting that an abundance of coho “silvers” will be returning from the Pacific Ocean this summer. The estimate is at least 1.732 MILLION fish!

This is the largest forecast since at least 2015. If the forecast is accurate it would be the highest actual ocean coho return back to the late 1980’s and just a little above 2014, which was one of the best years for sport fishermen in Oregon since 2008.

The total figure of 1.732 million is 6.5 times higher than last year’s projected forecast and more than 3.5 times higher than the actual number of coho in the ocean. Last year we caught a significant number of jacks in the estuary- pointing to good ocean conditions and excellent survival rates for these young fish. Let’s just say we are pretty pumped for what lies ahead in 2021!