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The road to Idaho

Every salmon and steelhead bound for Idaho climbs eight fish ladders on the way. Four are on the Columbia in Oregon and Washington, then the route turns up the Snake for four more. None of them is in Idaho: Lower Granite, the last, sits in Washington about 50 km below the state line.

· yesterdayCurrent

The Corps posts each day's count a day late. Next update tomorrow around noon Mountain.

Fish counted at the four Columbia dams include fish bound for the upper Columbia, not only Idaho. Ice Harbor is the first count on the route that is purely Snake-bound, and Lower Granite is the last dam below Idaho.

The eight dams

In the order the fish meet them, ocean first. Bonneville and Lower Granite carry a passage chart, the two ends of the story.

  1. 1Bonneville Dam

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

    229 km from the Pacific

    Counts here include fish bound for the upper Columbia, not only Idaho.

    Steelhead

    Nothing in this group is running today.

    Out of season

    • Steelhead · 58,983 countedSeason over

    Salmon

    Typical
    • Coho: the run is winding down, 92,238 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 88,669 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 58,510 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 434,295 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 74,034 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

    Passage over time
    2,8090Sep 23: 740, typical 2,178Sep 24: 1,478, typical 1,984Sep 25: 1,599, typical 1,732Sep 26: 2,809, typical 1,757Sep 27: 1,418, typical 1,667Sep 28: 1,229, typical 1,732Sep 29: 1,062, typical 1,654Sep 30: 1,706, typical 1,483Oct 1: 1,926, typical 1,343Oct 2: 917, typical 1,326Oct 3: 1,314, typical 1,273Oct 4: 1,588, typical 1,286Oct 5: 1,259, typical 1,229Oct 6: 756, typical 1,206Oct 7: 874, typical 1,227Oct 8: 519, typical 1,241Oct 9: 1,203, typical 1,210Oct 10: 1,556, typical 1,358Oct 11: 1,222, typical 1,298Oct 12: 919, typical 1,147Oct 13: 692, typical 1,048Oct 14: 1,043, typical 1,090Oct 15: 611, typical 966Oct 16: 929, typical 883Oct 17: 1,260, typical 849Oct 18: 728, typical 819Oct 19: 470, typical 747Oct 20: 603, typical 673Oct 21: 591, typical 554Sep 23Oct 8Oct 22

    Bars are the day's count at Bonneville Dam through Oct 22. The dashed line is what the date usually brings, the ten-year median.

  2. 2The Dalles Dam

    Photo: Columbia River System Operations EIS

    302 km from the Pacific

    Counts here include fish bound for the upper Columbia, not only Idaho.

    Steelhead

    Nothing in this group is running today.

    Out of season

    • Steelhead · 46,859 countedSeason over

    Salmon

    Nothing in this group is running today.

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 57,510 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 42,995 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 159,305 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 68,223 countedSeason over
    • Coho · 33,691 countedSeason over

    One fish = 1,000 counted this season

  3. 3John Day Dam

    Photo: Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    342 km from the Pacific

    Counts here include fish bound for the upper Columbia, not only Idaho.

    Steelhead

    Nothing in this group is running today.

    Out of season

    • Steelhead · 37,454 countedSeason over

    Salmon

    Well below typical
    • Coho: the run is winding down, 25,311 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 49,483 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 42,605 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 106,219 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 61,655 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

  4. 4McNary Dam

    Photo: Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    462 km from the Pacific

    Counts here include fish bound for the upper Columbia, not only Idaho.

    Steelhead

    Nothing in this group is running today.

    Out of season

    • Steelhead · 35,874 countedSeason over

    Salmon

    Below typical
    • Coho: the run is winding down, 23,746 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 43,275 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 39,933 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 98,369 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 59,797 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

  5. 5Ice Harbor Dam

    Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    528 km from the Pacific

    Counts here are Snake-bound.

    Steelhead

    Well below typical
    • Steelhead: the run is winding down, 31,420 so far

    Salmon

    Below typical
    • Coho: the run is tapering off, 4,475 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 30,542 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 8,569 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 29,050 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 230 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

  6. 6Lower Monumental Dam

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

    579 km from the Pacific

    Counts here are Snake-bound.

    Steelhead

    Well below typical
    • Steelhead: the run is winding down, 29,029 so far

    Salmon

    Well below typical
    • Coho: the run is tapering off, 4,761 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 28,604 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 9,553 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 26,754 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 266 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

  7. 7Little Goose Dam

    Photo: Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    625 km from the Pacific

    Counts here are Snake-bound.

    Steelhead

    Well below typical
    • Steelhead: the run is winding down, 27,680 so far

    Salmon

    Well below typical
    • Coho: the run is tapering off, 4,932 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 27,452 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 8,784 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 24,523 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 241 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

  8. 8Lower Granite Dam

    Photo: Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    682 km from the Pacific

    Counts here are Snake-bound.

    Steelhead

    Well below typical
    • Steelhead: the run is tapering off, 26,860 so far

    Salmon

    Well below typical
    • Coho: the run is tapering off, 3,671 so far

    Out of season

    • Spring chinook · 28,119 countedSeason over
    • Summer chinook · 7,941 countedSeason over
    • Fall chinook · 23,623 countedSeason over
    • Sockeye · 221 countedSeason over

    One fish = 5,000 counted this season

    Passage over time
    1,7250Sep 23: 1,022, typical 1,001Sep 24: 692, typical 1,080Sep 25: 518, typical 1,226Sep 26: 1,291, typical 1,307Sep 27: 714, typical 1,426Sep 28: 773, typical 1,513Sep 29: 837, typical 1,575Sep 30: 1,515, typical 1,627Oct 1: 894, typical 1,693Oct 2: 784, typical 1,692Oct 3: 686, typical 1,716Oct 4: 544, typical 1,725Oct 5: 525, typical 1,650Oct 6: 482, typical 1,623Oct 7: 555, typical 1,553Oct 8: 514, typical 1,521Oct 9: 443, typical 1,533Oct 10: 713, typical 1,515Oct 11: 381, typical 1,510Oct 12: 207, typical 1,463Oct 13: 316, typical 1,377Oct 14: 399, typical 1,307Oct 15: 291, typical 1,234Oct 16: 276, typical 1,167Oct 17: 250, typical 1,050Oct 18: 282, typical 952Oct 19: 179, typical 845Oct 20: 132, typical 788Oct 21: 151, typical 747Oct 22: 157, typical 700Sep 23Oct 8Oct 22

    Bars are the day's count at Lower Granite Dam through Oct 22. The dashed line is what the date usually brings, the ten-year median.

    Passage over time
    3110Sep 23: 169, typical 45Sep 24: 116, typical 53Sep 25: 131, typical 59Sep 26: 186, typical 63Sep 27: 125, typical 83Sep 28: 112, typical 125Sep 29: 140, typical 152Sep 30: 311, typical 177Oct 1: 145, typical 209Oct 2: 145, typical 250Oct 3: 101, typical 292Oct 4: 162, typical 309Oct 5: 79, typical 296Oct 6: 70, typical 260Oct 7: 56, typical 238Oct 8: 59, typical 257Oct 9: 129, typical 251Oct 10: 144, typical 255Oct 11: 83, typical 269Oct 12: 35, typical 261Oct 13: 74, typical 261Oct 14: 119, typical 253Oct 15: 68, typical 252Oct 16: 74, typical 249Oct 17: 79, typical 224Oct 18: 79, typical 210Oct 19: 54, typical 200Oct 20: 40, typical 189Oct 21: 51, typical 175Oct 22: 33, typical 173Sep 23Oct 8Oct 22

    Bars are the day's count at Lower Granite Dam through Oct 22. The dashed line is what the date usually brings, the ten-year median.

Waves on the way

No pulse is currently being followed between the dams.

How long it takes

Measured from the ladder counts themselves: the lag between run-year midpoints at each pair of dams, over run-years from 2010. Measured on September 11, 2026.

Steelhead

about 47 days

Slowest leg: Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam, 24 days

Spring Chinook

about 16 days

Slowest leg: Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam, 3 days

Summer Chinook

at least 12 days

Slowest leg: John Day Dam to McNary Dam, 3 days

Fall Chinook

at least 14 days

Slowest leg: Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam, 4 days

Sockeye

about 17 days

Slowest leg: McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Dam, 7 days

Bonneville1 wk2 wk3 wk4 wk5 wk6 wk7 wk

Each gap is a dam, Bonneville first and Lower Granite last. Point at a leg, or tab to it, to see the dam it ends at and how long it takes.

Leg by leg, with the usual range

Steelheadabout 47 days, ocean to Idaho

BetweenDays (10th / median / 90th)
Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam15 / 24 / 31
The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam5 / 7 / 11
John Day Dam to McNary Dam3 / 3 / 5
McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Dam3 / 5 / 7
Ice Harbor Dam to Lower Monumental Dam1 / 2 / 3
Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam1 / 2 / 4
Little Goose Dam to Lower Granite Dam3 / 4 / 5

Spring Chinookabout 16 days, ocean to Idaho

BetweenDays (10th / median / 90th)
Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam2 / 3 / 4
The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam1 / 2 / 2
John Day Dam to McNary Dam2 / 3 / 4
McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Dam0 / 1 / 3
Ice Harbor Dam to Lower Monumental Dam1 / 2 / 3
Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam2 / 3 / 6
Little Goose Dam to Lower Granite Dam1 / 2 / 3

Summer Chinook

BetweenDays (10th / median / 90th)
Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam1 / 2 / 4
The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam1 / 1 / 2
John Day Dam to McNary Dam2 / 3 / 3
McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Damnot measurable, see below
Ice Harbor Dam to Lower Monumental Dam0 / 1 / 2
Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam1 / 3 / 5
Little Goose Dam to Lower Granite Dam1 / 2 / 3

Fall Chinook

BetweenDays (10th / median / 90th)
Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam3 / 4 / 5
The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam2 / 2 / 4
John Day Dam to McNary Dam2 / 3 / 4
McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Damnot measurable, see below
Ice Harbor Dam to Lower Monumental Dam0 / 1 / 2
Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam1 / 2 / 3
Little Goose Dam to Lower Granite Dam1 / 2 / 3

Sockeyeabout 17 days, ocean to Idaho

BetweenDays (10th / median / 90th)
Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam1 / 2 / 2
The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam1 / 1 / 2
John Day Dam to McNary Dam2 / 2 / 2
McNary Dam to Ice Harbor Dam5 / 7 / 14
Ice Harbor Dam to Lower Monumental Dam0 / 2 / 3
Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam1 / 1 / 3
Little Goose Dam to Lower Granite Dam1 / 2 / 3

Where a pair is marked not measurable, the two dams are counting different populations rather than the same fish later. McNary's midpoint belongs to the upper Columbia run, so for summer and fall chinook the lag from McNary to Ice Harbor comes out negative. It is an artefact of the comparison, not a fish swimming backwards, and the wave detector refuses those pairs for the same reason.

What a count means

Counts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via Columbia River DART. A count is adult fish through a ladder on a day. It is not an estimate of a run, it does not say where an individual fish is going, and it says nothing about fishing.

Counts usually run a day behind, which is why every number here carries the date it describes rather than today's.