BONNEVILLE -Fishermen have been so successful during spring Chinook season that the season had ended east of Portland. And the fact that bulk of the anticipated upriver run has yet to clear the first hydrosystem hurdle on their homeward journey.

Through last Thursday, 75,840 adult salmon had been counted ascending Bonneville’s fish ladders. That compares well with the 10-year average count through April 22 – 60,426. And it’s actually better than the 58,632 count through April 22, 2002. The fish eventually arrived for a total 2002 return of 295,100 – the second-largest return since record-keeping began in 1938.

This year’s Bonneville count is also not too far off the 88,645 total through April 22, 2000, or the 112,771 tally through that date last year. The run eventually totaled 178,600 in 2000 and 208,900 adults last year. A whopping 267,106 upriver spring Chinook had passed Bonneville through April 22, 2001, when a record return of 416,500 was recorded.

Those runs of the past four years have far exceeded those of the 1990s, which ranged from a low of only 10,200 upriver spring Chinook adult returns to the mouth of the Columbia to as many as 114,100.

After daily counts from 3,099 to 4,667 April 15-17, the counts jumped to 9,488 to 8,263 to 12,656 early last week.