Spring chinook fishing season stopped

LEWISTON – The spring chinook salmon sport fishing season was called to a halt Tuesday on the Clearwater River after less than a month by Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials when they determined anglers had caught their share of the waterway’s harvest.

Anglers caught and kept 793 fish, of which 787 were adults and six were immature jack salmon between 12 and 22 inches, during the season that began May 20.

Last year, fishing for the prized spring chinooks on the Clearwater began in late April and lasted until mid-June.

This year’s season had to be abbreviated because the salmon began their swim from the Pacific Ocean up the Columbia River to the Snake River and its tributaries later than expected.

Fishing remains open on the Snake River in Hells Canyon until June 19, on the Lower Salmon River until June 26 and the Little Salmon River until July 31.