AbstractThe survival of small‐sized (<50.8 cm) chinook salmon,Oncorhynchus tshawytscha(Walbaum), and coho salmon,Oncorhynchus kitsutch(Walbaum), caught by sport fishing was determined to assess the potential for increasing the size limit for these fish. Fishermen were recently catching smaller salmon than in the 1970s, but salmon growth rates had not changed. To be an effective management option, the survival rate of hooked and returned fish must be high. The overall survival rates were high: 76% for chinook salmon and 70% for coho salmon. There was no significant difference in survival of the coho salmon with size of hook used (P= 0.31). Any mortality among fish was generally acute; fish hooked deep in the mouth or gills generally bled and died shortly after capture. Fish hooked in the gills had a significantly greater mortality (P= 0.0002). The overall high survival rate for these species was the result of a small proportion of fish being hooked in the gills or deep in the mouth. Since the survival rate of the salmon was high, the size limit could be increased to allow smaller fish to grow to sizes preferred by sport fisherme