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Chinook Closure at Columbia Mouth by Bill Monroe The Oregonian, September 8, 2005

Fishery managers will close chinook salmon fishing tonight in the Pacific Ocean off the mouth of the Columbia River.

Curt Melcher, salmon harvest manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said a chinook guideline has been reached in the zone immediately north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita.

Offshore salmon fishing can continue in the same area for fin-clipped coho, he said. And fishing for both species continues in the estuary upriver from Buoy 10.

Chinook fishing also remains open in the ocean south of Cape Falcon.

Melcher said anglers have used up about half of the number of chinook they can catch in the Columbia River between Astoria and Bonneville Dam.

In the can: A tuna tournament benefit for the Oregon Food Bank held Saturday out of Tillamook Bay yielded 2,100 pounds of tuna, or just more than 2,000 cans.

Organizer Bud Hosner of Portland said 18 teams of volunteer anglers spent $300 to $500 each for fuel to take their boats to sea for the Food Bank effort, then gathered at the Tillamook Bay Boathouse for a barbecue.

Teams that headed north of the bay did best. Tuna were 40 to 50 miles offshore and ranged up to 311/2 pounds.

Hosner said the event next year might include a series of tournaments in other ports along the Oregon Coast.

Several boats joined feeding humpback whales on the calm seas.