It only took five seconds before someone pulled out dozens of smelt, each one shining silver and black. People filled a bucket of eulachon smelt in just a few minutes during the erratic fishery ...

A rare one-day smelt dipping season on Thursday, March 27, 2025, drew crowds to Troutdale s Sandy River, as a spring break surge of eulachon returned in harvestable numbers.

Whether the Columbia River’s eulachon smelt run will make its way into the Sandy River is always a crap shoot, but this year’s run appears to have waited for spring break. A pulse of the tasty ...

TROUTDALE Ore. (KPTV) - On Thursday, hundreds of families and fishermen took to the banks of the Sandy River for the one-day recreational harvest of eulachon smelt. “The keys are to have a ...

Salem voters learned at a town hall Tuesday night what the city stands to lose or gain ahead of a pivotal vote for a levy in a special election just weeks away. A growing trade war between the U.S ...

For my first time this spring, I was excited to take part in one of the oldest fishing traditions of the Columbia River Basin: eulachon smelt dipping. But alas, after a disappointing three hours ...

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office seized approximately 2,500 pounds of illegally harvested smelt last Thursday during a joint poaching enforcement operation with Oregon State Police on the ...

They’re a species of fish with many names, including hooligan, oolichan, eulachon, savior fish, salvation fish, candlefish, Columbia River smelt, and Thaleichthys pacificus. By any name ...

READ ALSO: $10,000 reward offered in search for poacher who killed endangered gray wolf in Oregon The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife notes that eulachon smelt were listed for protection ...

Judging by the sheer number of fish seized, there were most likely multiple parties or groups of poachers involved. Eulachon smelt only grow to about 6 to 9 inches with an average weight of .18 pounds ...

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office confiscated approximately 2,500 pounds of illegally harvested smelt last week, after a poaching prevention operation conducted with Oregon State Police.