Anglers fishing for spring chinook on the Clearwater, Salmon and Little Salmon rivers did well last week, according to a report from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Those fishing on the Clearwater River and its tributaries caught and kept 1,165 adult chinook, with the hottest fishing recorded between Cherrylane and Orofino and on the North Fork Clearwater beneath Dworshak Dam.

The projected harvest share for the Clearwater dropped slightly from about 4,600 adult chinook to just under 4,300. Anglers have caught 2,872 adult chinook from the Clearwater and its tributaries since the season opened.

Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager for the department at Lewiston, said in his weekly update on the fishery that anglers have achieved the harvest target for the stretch of the Clearwater between Cherrylane and Orofino.

But that section will remain open to fishing because it appears some of the upriver reaches are not likely to achieve their harvest targets.

DuPont said the North Fork fishery will hit its target by the end of this week and be subject to closure. The section between Lewiston and Cherrylane closed last Friday.

Anglers there caught and kept 1,470 chinook while it was open. That’s 34% of the projected harvest share and just about dead on the section’s harvest target of 35%

Anglers on the lower Salmon River caught 535 adult chinook last week and those on the Little Salmon caught 86 for a total of 621 last week and 691 for the season.

The projected harvest share for chinook bound for the Rapid River Hatchery near Riggins is now about 2,200, up more than 300 compared to last week’s projection.

DuPont said the harvest share climbed because of good survival of Rapid River bound fish between Bonneville and Lower Granite dams. DuPont said it’s possible anglers will hit the harvest target for the lower Salmon River by the end of the week.

The section of the lower Salmon River between Rice Creek Bridge and Time Zone bridges closed Monday. The closure was implemented to protect chinook bound for the upper Salmon River.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.