Washington Salmon Counts

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Bonneville Dam — Spring Chinook

Chinook salmon · Dam ladder count · Columbia River mile 146

2026 season — final

88,599

Chinook salmon past the dam in 2026

The 2026 Bonneville Dam spring chinook finished at 88,599 adult fish past the dam — 7% below the 10-year average final of 95,348 (mean of 10 seasons, 2016–2025); the preseason forecast for the run was 147,300, and passage finished at 60% of that forecast (a run forecast is not a goal for this count).

Preseason forecast 147,300 — a run forecast, not a goal for this count

Season summary

The 2026 season, finished — compare it with earlier years. Toggle seasons, flip between daily counts and the cumulative run, and overlay the 10-year average and the preseason forecast.

Cumulative count vs the 10-year average

31,62063,24194,861126,482AprMayJunJulAugSepOct

2026 final run  10-year average (mean of 2016–2025)  Middle half of seasons

Daily counts, 2026

Peak Apr 30 — 6,714AprMayJunJulAugSepOct
Daily count table
DateCountCumulative
Apr 0177
Apr 021118
Apr 032846
Apr 042470
Apr 051686
Apr 0635121
Apr 0743164
Apr 0824188
Apr 0950238
Apr 1073311
Apr 11228539
Apr 12214753
Apr 13244997
Apr 144231,420
Apr 153081,728
Apr 162521,980
Apr 173632,343
Apr 183712,714
Apr 195063,220
Apr 208934,113
Apr 218294,942
Apr 228155,757
Apr 231,1416,898
Apr 248967,794
Apr 259398,733
Apr 261,74410,477
Apr 273,30913,786
Apr 284,97018,756
Apr 294,72123,477
Apr 306,71430,191
May 015,66935,860
May 024,44340,303
May 033,55143,854
May 044,67648,530
May 054,42952,959
May 063,95856,917
May 073,46060,377
May 082,94263,319
May 092,71866,037
May 102,17368,210
May 112,63570,845
May 121,63372,478
May 131,40973,887
May 141,03474,921
May 151,15176,072
May 1677376,845
May 1776577,610
May 1883978,449
May 1969879,147
May 2084379,990
May 2173380,723
May 2276981,492
May 2381582,307
May 2484983,156
May 2575083,906
May 2658884,494
May 2772585,219
May 2859685,815
May 291,00286,817
May 3077587,592
May 311,00788,599
Jun 01088,599
Jun 02088,599
Jun 03088,599
Jun 04088,599
Jun 05088,599
Jun 06088,599
Jun 07088,599
Jun 08088,599
Jun 09088,599
Jun 10088,599
Jun 11088,599
Jun 12088,599
Jun 13088,599
Jun 14088,599
Jun 15088,599
Jun 16088,599
Jun 17088,599
Jun 18088,599
Jun 19088,599
Jun 20088,599
Jun 21088,599
Jun 22088,599
Jun 23088,599
Jun 24088,599
Jun 25088,599
Jun 26088,599
Jun 27088,599
Jun 28088,599
Jun 29088,599
Jun 30088,599
Jul 01088,599
Jul 02088,599
Jul 03088,599
Jul 04088,599
Jul 05088,599
Jul 06088,599
Jul 07088,599
Jul 08088,599
Jul 09088,599
Jul 10088,599
Jul 11088,599
Jul 12088,599
Jul 13088,599
Jul 14088,599
Jul 15088,599
Jul 16088,599
Jul 17088,599
Jul 18088,599
Jul 19088,599
Jul 20088,599
Jul 21088,599
Jul 22088,599
Jul 23088,599
Jul 24088,599
Jul 25088,599
Jul 26088,599
Jul 27088,599
Jul 28088,599
Jul 29088,599
Jul 30088,599
Jul 31088,599
Aug 01088,599
Aug 02088,599
Aug 03088,599
Aug 04088,599
Aug 05088,599
Aug 06088,599
Aug 07088,599
Aug 08088,599
Aug 09088,599
Aug 10088,599
Aug 11088,599
Aug 12088,599
Aug 13088,599
Aug 14088,599
Aug 15088,599
Aug 16088,599
Aug 17088,599
Aug 18088,599
Aug 19088,599
Aug 20088,599
Aug 21088,599
Aug 22088,599
Aug 23088,599
Aug 24088,599
Aug 25088,599
Aug 26088,599
Aug 27088,599
Aug 28088,599
Aug 29088,599
Aug 30088,599
Aug 31088,599
Sep 01088,599
Sep 02088,599
Sep 03088,599
Sep 04088,599
Sep 05088,599
Sep 06088,599
Sep 07088,599
Sep 08088,599
Sep 09088,599
Sep 10088,599
Sep 11088,599
Sep 12088,599
Sep 13088,599
Sep 14088,599
Sep 15088,599
Sep 16088,599
Sep 17088,599
Sep 18088,599
Sep 19088,599
Sep 20088,599
Sep 21088,599
Sep 22088,599
Sep 23088,599
Sep 24088,599
Sep 25088,599
Sep 26088,599
Sep 27088,599
Sep 28088,599
Sep 29088,599
Sep 30088,599
Oct 01088,599
Oct 02088,599
Oct 03088,599
Oct 04088,599
Oct 05088,599
Oct 06088,599
Oct 07088,599
Oct 08088,599
Oct 09088,599
Oct 10088,599
Oct 11088,599
Oct 12088,599
Oct 13088,599
Oct 14088,599
Oct 15088,599
Oct 16088,599
Oct 17088,599
Oct 18088,599
Oct 19088,599
Oct 20088,599
Oct 21088,599
Oct 22088,599
Oct 23088,599
Oct 24088,599
Oct 25088,599
Oct 26088,599
Oct 27088,599
Oct 28088,599
Oct 29088,599
Oct 30088,599
Oct 31088,599

Preseason forecast

The 2026 preseason forecast was 147,300 upriver spring Chinook returning to the Columbia River. Bonneville is the first dam that run passes, so passage here tracks the run itself — but the forecast is a run forecast, not a dam goal, and there is no escapement goal for a dam count.

2026 preseason forecast, Joint Staff Report (WDFW / ODFW / CRITFC), via ODFW's Columbia River forecast table.

Final passage at this counter: 88,599 — 60% of the forecast. For scale, the 2016–2025 average final is 95,348.

Final counts by year

YearFinal countvs 10-yr avg
202688,599below average
2025120,459above average
202491,502below average
2023109,850above average
2022146,416above average
202166,648below average
202055,539below average
201954,613below average
201887,872below average
201783,608below average
2016136,978above average

About this count

How it is counted: Dam ladder count at Columbia River mile 146.

Dam day counts are expanded estimates: counters watch the ladders 16 hours a day, 50 minutes of every hour, and the day count is that tally multiplied by 1.2. Fish passing at night, through the navigation lock or through turbines are not counted. The Corps reviews counts with video after the season and occasionally revises them.

Counts post daily in season; in-season figures are preliminary, and the Corps reviews the season after it closes — the figures here are the final published ones. Source: Fish Passage Center — Adult Data Query (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers counts).