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Reports > 2012 > December > Monday 17
Monday, December 17, 2012
 
By Dave Graybill
 
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has made some forecasts for returns of salmon in 2013. Not surprising really is the significant drop in expected returns of sockeye, since we had an all-time high return last year. The good news is that the anticipated return of sockeye to Lake Wenatchee looks very strong, with over 44,000 expected to reach the lake in 2013. It was hoped that the Wenatchee River would open to spring Chinook fishing this year, and if the return of over 14,000 actually occurs that could happen. Also strong again this year is our expected return of summer-runs. Last year a big adjustment was made in the forecast as the run entered the Columbia, but we still got almost 60,000 to our region. This year they expect over 73,000 to reach the upper Columbia. Sockeye aren’t going to disappear from the Columbia. The forecast is for over 180,000 in 2013, which will make for a decent fishery. Angler success will be much higher on these fish, too, as anglers really learned how to catch them last season. No record returns, but there will be plenty of fish in the upper river next year.