Spring chinook headed for Idaho
The spring chinook salmon fishing that’s been going gangbusters below Bonneville Dam is a harbinger for Idaho anglers, who have been advised to gear up for the second biggest chinook salmon run in decades.
Nearly 100,000 chinooks are expected to enter North Idaho streams via the Snake River this spring and summer, and a whopping 83,550 of them should be marked hatchery fish available for the catching.
That’s a fourfold increase over 2007.
Also, this year’s contingent of federally protected wild spring chinook coming over Lower Granite Dam should be twice last year’s numbers, or about 14,150 fish.
A run of this size should bring adult chinook to the upper Salmon and reaches that haven’t had spawners in decades.
In 2001, the record return of 141,000 fish generated angler enthusiasm and a $90 million boost to the state’s economy, according to Idaho Fish and Game.
Depending on how the run materializes, some Idaho streams could open in late April.
In Oregon, portions of both the Deschutes and Hood rivers will open to sport salmon fishing on Tuesday.
Staff and wire reports
ENVIRONMENT
Earth Day in Sandpoint
A free Earth Day Festival of fun, food, arts and education featuring 15 North Idaho organizations will gather at the Sandpoint Community Hall next Sunday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Musicians will perform throughout the event, and outdoor wilderness games for kids will start at 1 p.m.
Half-hour presentations start at 11 a.m. with a visual tour of North Idaho by local photographger Woods Wheatcroft.
The presentations continue on a wide range of subjects, including native landscaping, the Rock Creek Mine, wolves, global warming, the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, cutthroat trout and water quality.
Info: (208) 265-9565; www.wildidaho.org.
Rich Landers
FISHING
Fishing 2008 coming Thursday
A special section featuring the latest information on fishing prospects throughout the Inland Northwest will be published in The Spokesman-Review on Thursday.
The special report will update anglers on new rules and places to find everything from trout, panfish and bass to lunker tiger muskies.
An updated two-page map details the fishing waters and opportunities in Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Western Montana.
Rich Landers
RIVER RUNNING
Whitewater rivers primed to run
Whitewater rafters and kayakers are gearing up for an epic season as the region’s mountains are ripe with snow — 175 percent of normal in parts of the Cascades.
All that snow will eventually melt and muscle down tiny creeks, bigger streams and, then, to the great whitewater rivers of the Northwest, such as the Wenatchee, Skykomish and Snoqualmie in Washington and the Deschutes and Rogue in Oregon.
Major runoff usually starts in mid-May and runs through June, but the torrents could start earlier or later, said Brent Bower, of the National Weather Service.
“We’ve had a lot of people calling,” said Christina Delostrinos of Seattle-based Blue Sky Outfitters, which runs whitewater trips on the Methow, Skagit, Tieton and White Salmon rivers, plus the Wenatchee, where the snowpack is 150 percent of average. “It’s definitely going to be a great year.”
The Olympian
FISHING
Idaho tilapia record
Jess Arroyo of Boise caught the Idaho state record tilapia near Buhl on March 16. The non-native fish was 4.53 pounds and 19 inches long with a 14 3/4-inch girth, eclipsing the record of 1 pound, 10 ounces caught in 2003.
“We were actually fishing for tilapia,” Arroyo said, noting that he was using a red-tail Mr. Twister jig.
“They are really aggressive. They hit like a bass. They fight like a smallmouth.”
By the way, they taste great, he said.
Tilapia are not native to Idaho. They are raised around the world for food.
In announcing the state record, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said the fish was caught in the Snake River and had obviously escaped from a hatchery.
Idaho Statesman