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Spring chinook seasons open Saturday |
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April 18, 2017 |
By Mike Demick
IDFG Conservation Information Supervisor
The spring chinook salmon fishing season will
open Saturday, April 22, with a four-day-a-week
season in the Clearwater River drainage, and
daily fishing on the Snake, lower Salmon and
Little Salmon rivers.
Chinook have started entering the Columbia
River, but only 503 have crossed Bonneville Dam
as of Sunday, April 16. Bonneville is the first
of eight dams the fish cross in the
Columbia/Snake river systems.
The forecast for this year is 45,046 adult
adipose fin-clipped hatchery fish to cross Lower
Granite Dam about 25 miles downstream from
Lewiston, which is the last dam the fish cross
before reaching Idaho. Last year, an estimated
adult 52,228 adult adipose fin-clipped hatchery
chinook crossed Lower Granite.
Once open, the seasons will continue as set
until further notice. The season typically ends
when the sport anglers' share of the run is
caught, which varies by river.
Because the projected return to the Clearwater
River basin is down this year, and the sport
anglers share is about 1,900 adult fish, fishing
will be open Thursdays through Sundays and
closed Mondays to Wednesdays. Limits are four
fish per day, only one of which may be an adult
(24 inches or longer). The possession limit is
twelve fish, only three may be adults.
In the Snake, lower Salmon, and Little Salmon
rivers, fishing will be open seven days a week.
Anglers will be allowed to keep four fish per
day, only two of which may be adults. The
possession limit in these rivers is twelve fish,
only six may be adults.
Salmon anglers are restricted to barbless hooks.
Only hatchery origin chinook salmon with a
clipped adipose fin, as evidenced by a healed
scar, may be kept. Only harvested adult chinook
salmon must be recorded on the salmon permit.
Chinook salmon less than 24 inches (jacks) count
against the daily limit but need not be recorded
on the salmon permit. The season limit is 20
adult chinook salmon for seasons prior to
September 1.
Other rules and special restrictions for the
chinook salmon fishery are in the 2017 Seasons
and Rules brochure available at Fish and Game
offices, license vendors, and online at
https://idfg.idaho.gov/fish/chinook/rules.
Salmon anglers can view up-to-date season
information, including seasons and rules,
in-season fish counts, harvest information,
hatchery returns, and interactive season maps,
by visiting Fish and Game's website at
https://idfg.idaho.gov/fish/chinook.
The Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to
decide on summer chinook salmon fisheries on the
Lochsa River, South Fork Salmon River and upper
Salmon River at its May meeting. Fish return to
those areas later than to the Clearwater River
and Rapid River hatcheries, allowing fishery
managers more time to develop season proposals. |
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