Chetco estuary kings are stacked at the mouth, waiting on rain

Ocean-fresh kings are holding in the Chetco River estuary instead of pushing upriver. Kenny Priest's Sept. 24 Fishing the North Coast column says salmon have been staging in tidewater since early September, waiting for enough rain to move them. Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing told Priest the mouth fishery is already approaching peak-season catch rates.

Martin said big numbers of kings are staging near the mouth and sliding in and out with the tides. Bottom-fishing boats out of Brookings are running into salmon as well. The bite that is working is trolled anchovies or herring, with or without 360 flashers. The better windows have been daybreak, the period just before high tide, and the middle of the outgoing. It is still early for a real upriver push. Martin expects jacks in tidewater soon. A mix of wild and hatchery adults and jacks is already coming off the jetties.

The column's read of Chetco salmon rules: two adult salmon a day, and no more than one of those adults may be a wild Chinook. Hatchery adult Chinook can fill the adult bag. Once that adult limit is reached, jack fishing stops. From river mile 2.2 to Nook Creek, Sept. 1 through Nov. 3, the gear is fly fishing with a strike indicator or bobber fishing only. Confirm the Southwest Zone pamphlet before you keep a fish; in-season pages move.

Photo: Brookings Fishing Charters — customers with Capt. Rye Phillips and salmon from the Chetco estuary, via Fishing the North Coast (Sept. 24, 2026).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Fishing the North Coast — Big Kings Staging at Chetco River Mouth (Kenny Priest, Sept. 24, 2026).