Thurston County’s lower Deschutes is closed to all fishing through Oct. 31

Washington closed a short, urban piece of the Deschutes River in Thurston County. This is the Olympia-area river through Tumwater, not the Deschutes in Oregon. A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife emergency rule posted Sept. 21, 2026, shuts all fishing from Sept. 22 through Oct. 31, from the mouth — a line 400 feet downstream of the lower Tumwater Falls fish ladder — upstream to the Old Highway 99 (Capital Boulevard Southeast) bridge. Every species is included.

The water runs through Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls, and the park does not allow shore fishing. WDFW said recent trespass and fishing there created a public-safety problem in dangerous water and put extra pressure on fall Chinook staging for the Tumwater Falls Hatchery. The closure is meant to deal with both.

Capital Lake stays closed year-round on its own rule: everything between the 5th Avenue bridge in downtown Olympia and a line 400 feet below that same lower ladder. The Fish Program contact on the emergency rule is 360-902-2700. Check the live rule before you fish the Tumwater stretch.

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

Source: WDFW — Lower Deschutes River (Thurston County) closed to all fishing (emergency rule, Sept. 21, 2026).