Okanagan sockeye 2024

sly_karma

Crew Member
Here we go again. Early days, but the fish have entered the lower Columbia. Hopefully we don't have a repeat of last year's disappointment where a larger than forecast return went for nought, trapped in Brewster Pool by high water temp and low flow in the Okanagan River.

Screenshot_20240609_095211_Chrome.jpg
 
I'm in Osoyoos for the last week of July. Hoping it will be open but is it normally just a few weeks in August?
 
Usually opens around Aug 1, give or take. they start with 2 week opening and have added additional weeks in abundant years.
 
Clips for rods and clips for dummy flashers hold on 30 feet of gangen. I hate the stacking clips, but they work too.
 
Usually opens around Aug 1, give or take. they start with 2 week opening and have added additional weeks in abundant years.
That’s what I thought. Probably not gonna drag the boat/gear up on july 20th if I’m gonna miss the fun by a week. My boats not much of a wakeboard boat to have fun up there when there’s no sockeye fishing haha
 
This year's forecast over Bonneville is 410,000 sockeye. These are distributed across the entire Columbia system, but 75-80% of these are Okanagan fish. Here's the YTD figures. Once things progress further, start looking at the Wells Dam figures, the closest counter to the Okanagan River confluence.

Screenshot (50).png
 
We just need that Enloe Dam out so we can have summer run steelhead back to the Similkameen...
Too true, what a mess - hasn't produced a kilowatt of power since 1958. At least the Utility has finally given up on their pipe dream that they can revive the dam to produce power (estimates back in 2018 indicated that power from such a dam would be 10x more expensive than from other sources).

Anyway, there are plans to remove the dam, but the wheels are turning really slowly. No money to get it done, and no one has a good remediate plan for the massive amount of sediment held up behind the dam.

I've been going to this area of the Similkameen since I was a kid and the road between Loomis - Nighthawk - Oroville is one of the nicest scenic driving roads in the entire Pacific Northwest. If you happen to be in Osoyoos for a day, its worth a trip across the line. If you are really adventurous and have a 4wd vehicle, you can head up the forest service roads up above Loomis and head into the Pasayten Wilderness - truly an amazing area. Just make sure your AC works if you go ing the summer, +40C is the norm. In the Spring/Fall its a great biking route.
 
We occasionally take the Nighthawk border crossing en route to Oroville or Tonasket for mexican food, easy shot back home via Osoyoos. Love those rugged dry interior valleys. Palmer Lake is beautiful too, in a severe way.
 
We had a relatively cool, wet spring in 2023 amd look how that turned out...
 
Back
Top