Fishing season opens April 23 for salmon

BOISE – The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has set the start of the salmon fishing season on most rivers for April 23.

The agency also left open the possibility of a salmon fishing season on the Upper Salmon River, which has not been available for almost 30 years. Officials said a decision will be made later this spring.

“With the pre-season forecast, there will be about 75,000 adipose-fin-clipped spring and summer chinook adults over Lower Granite Dam. That’s pretty good,” said Sharon Kiefer, anadromous fish manager for Fish and Game.

The agency has reached an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries that would allow anglers to take surplus hatchery summer and spring chinook returning to some hatcheries on the Upper Salmon River.

The plan will only be implemented if adequate numbers of fish return to the hatcheries, Kiefer said. But she’s confident this year’s number will be large enough to allow fishing.

“We are pleased that public fishing can be restored in these areas without compromising salmon recovery,” said Rob Jones, NOAA chief of hatcheries and inland fisheries.

Most of the fishing will start April 23 but the Lochsa River will open Memorial Day.

The season on the Lower Snake River closes May 30. All of the branches of the Clearwater River close July 31, as do the Little Salmon and the Upper Snake. The season on the Lower Salmon closes June 19.

Anglers may have to be patient and wait a bit longer than opening day to get their catch. The springers have been slow to surge up the Columbia River, officials said.

As of Wednesday, only 29 chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam, the first of eight dams the fish must pass before reaching the Lewiston area. The 10-year average for this time of year is 1,586 salmon at Bonneville.