Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

Good morning, Northwest.

Smallmouth bass are popular sport fish across the U.S., but have become invasive salmon predators in the Northwest — perhaps nowhere more than the Coquille River.

So Oregon wildlife regulators opened the Coquille to spearfishing in hopes of taking a bite out of the bass population. Cassandra Profita and Eden McCall report for “Oregon Field Guide” to start today’s newsletter.

In other news, it’s back to school in Oregon, and Beaverton High students are returning to a brand new building.

Here’s your First Look at Thursday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

New bass fishery in Oregon helps salmon by spearing their invasive predators

Last August, Jared Nagreen and Aaron Griffin drove five hours from where they live in Hood River to the Coquille River in Southern Oregon, where fall Chinook salmon populations had recently crashed to less than a thousand fish.

They geared up to test out an experimental new fishery the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife opened on the Coquille after salmon numbers plunged from more than 10,000 adults to less than 500 in 2018.

Wildlife officials linked the collapse primarily to the illegal introduction of smallmouth bass to the river, where the non-native species were gobbling up juvenile salmon.

In response, ODFW removed catch limits on smallmouth bass and opened the Coquille to spearfishing — a new sport that adds a bit of adventure to removing invasive species. (Cassandra Profita and Eden McCall)

Learn More

3 things to know

• Oregon’s sluggish economy could be picking up steam, state economists told lawmakers yesterday, but headwinds like high fuel prices, elevated inflation and a slow job market aren’t making it easy. (Dirk VanderHart)
• A company vital in designing and building equipment for the world’s largest computer chip firms broke ground on a $620 million research and development lab in Tualatin yesterday. (Kyra Buckley)
• Yesterday, the Washington State Department of Ecology issued notices of 35 violations against the Nippon Dynawave Packaging company, the paper mill where a fatal chemical tank failure happened on May 26. The agency said each violation could come with a maximum daily fine of $10,000. (Erik Neumann)

Northwest headlines

• Beaverton’s oldest school is new again (Elizabeth Miller)
• Dolly Parton’s Oregon legacy evident in the number of children reached through books (Casey Frizzell)
• Extensive vandalism forces closure of restrooms at 6 Oregon state parks in Lincoln County (Lincoln Chronicle)
• Ex-SOU employee charged with embezzling $15K from institution (Jane Vaughan, JPR)
• Oregon sheriffs cut ties with Curry County Sheriff John Ward (Justin Higginbottom, JPR)
• McKenzie Watershed Alliance says it was embezzled; Eugene water board wants to know if its funds were impacted (Nathan Wilk, KLCC)
• Lane County’s longest-serving administrator announces plans to leave (Rebecca Hansen-White, KLCC)
• NFL owners unanimously approve the sale of the Seahawks to Vinod Khosla and his family (Charles Odum, AP)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• A look at white oak habitat restoration on private land in Willamette Valley
• Portland independent journalist’s new podcast explores trust in the age of AI
• 6 additional college football teams join OSU and WSU in Pac-12 Conference

One more look

Oregon’s massive new wave energy test facility opens

A facility to test wave energy devices off the Oregon Coast between Newport and Waldport is finally open for business. No devices have arrived yet though as they await federal funding.

The goal for the facility, called PacWave South, is to test devices capable of harnessing power of waves, currents and tides to generate electricity.

OPB’s “All Science. No Fiction.” covered PacWave and its intent to deliver on the promise of wave energy last year. We revisit that story to close out today’s newsletter. (Jes Burns)

Learn More

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/27/smallmouth-bass-spearfishing-oregon-first-look/