The Buoy 10 recreational salmon season starts today, and anglers are heading out near the mouth of the Columbia River for some of the year’s most highly anticipated fishing.

As anglers reel in chinook salmon, the U.S. Coast Guard has kicked off their annual safety operations, a blitz that focuses in on boaters at local boat launches, marinas and on the water.

The Buoy 10 salmon fishery runs from Aug. 1 to 28 with a big run of 776,300 fall chinook expected to return to the river this year, larger than last year’s strong return of 657,000 fish.

If the run materializes as expected, it would be the largest total fall chinook return since 800,000 fish returned in 2004. Nearly 500,000 of the total are expected to be mid- and upriver bright salmon, which are highly prized by anglers because they are big, bite and fight hard and are high in food quality.

Fishery managers predict that anglers will catch approximately 11,000 of them between Buoy 10 and Rocky Point, 16 miles upriver.

The mid- and upriver brights are what experienced anglers are looking for, said John North, manager of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program. They are the most desired fish of the fall run because of their size and culinary appeal.

Buoy 10 is a very popular fishery, drawing tens of thousands of anglers every year, said Joe Hymer, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fishing tends to start out slow, then accelerates through August.

In Washington, bank anglers planning to fish near the mouth of the Columbia River should be aware they will need to purchase a Discover Pass to park on State Parks property near the North Jetty. With some exceptions, the pass is required to park a vehicle on lands managed by State Parks, WDFW and the state Department of Natural Resources. The Discover Pass was created by the Legislature earlier this year to keep recreation lands open to the public in the wake of steep budget cuts.

Throughout August, the Coast Guard will be at North Coast hot spots, educating boaters in an effort to save lives.

Coast Guard Sector Columbia River active, reserve and auxiliary members will be at marinas and boat launches in Ilwaco and Chinook, Wash., and Warrenton and Hammond to educate boaters about the dangers of the area, emergency and radio procedures, personal floatation devices (PFDs) and safe boating practices.

There will be an increased law enforcement presence on the river as the Coast Guard teams up with the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Department and Oregon State Police.

Seven people died in 2001 during the 45-day Buoy 10 recreational salmon fishery on the Columbia River. These deaths were mostly attributed to the unsafe boating practices of inexperienced boaters and poor knowledge of the area and emergency procedures, according to the Coast guard.

The number of deaths has been significantly reduced in recent years, with no Buoy 10 related deaths since 2003.

Columbia River fisheries are managed to quotas based on Endangered Species Act (ESA) limitations on wild fish, according to North. The flexible nature of these fisheries, he said, allows managers to maximize fishing opportunities under the ESA. However, it also means that regulation changes and season modifications can happen quickly based on actual returns and harvest rates.

Because fisheries are managed to specific harvest guidelines for key fish stocks, emergency in-season closures can occur if these guidelines are met. Anglers are therefore advised to stay tuned for changes that can take place as new information becomes available. Updates can be found on the ODFW website at www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/reg changes/columbia.asp

The 2011 fall seasons and regulations were established based on extensive deliberations between state and federal agencies, tribal representatives, and recreational and commercial fishers through a public forum known as the North of Falcon process, which takes place each spring.