Fall chinook fishing opens Thursday in area
Coho season will follow next month as the autumn runs ramp up
Fall chinook fishing seasons open on parts of the lower Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers in Idaho and Washington Thursday.
Anglers in Washington can fish from the mouth of the Snake near the Tri-Cities to Lower Granite Dam and from the downstream edge of the high-tension power lines crossing the river near Evans Road West of Clarkston to the Oregon state line. Idaho’s fall chinook season will be open on the Snake River starting at Lewiston and extending upstream to Hells Canyon Dam. Anglers also can fish for fall chinook on the Clearwater River and its Middle and South forks and on the Salmon River from its mouth to the mouth of the Little Salmon River at Riggins.
The North Fork of the Clearwater River opens for fall chinook season on Sept. 1.
The daily bag limit in both states is three adult salmon. In Washington, anglers fishing between the mouth of the Snake River and Lower Granite Dam can only keep hatchery chinook. Anglers fishing the section of the Snake River near Clarkston and those fishing in Idaho may keep up to three hatchery or wild fall chinook per day. Adult chinook are those measuring 24 inches or longer in length.
Fisheries managers are expecting 26,445 adult fall chinook to return at least as far as Lower Granite Dam this year. That includes 7,240 wild and 19,205 hatchery fish. Of those, 3,139 will be intercepted at the dam and taken to hatcheries to meet spawning needs. That will leave about 23,000 in the river.
Coho fishing season opens Sept. 1 on the Snake River from Lewiston to Hells Canyon Dam, on the Clearwater River and parts of its North, South and Middle Forks Sept. 1. Fisheries managers are expecting a return of about 12,250 adult coho. That is similar to last’s years coho forecast of 13,320. However, the actual return was 24,208 and set a modern day record.
The Nez Perce Tribe reintroduced coho after they were declared functionally extinct in the 1980s. The tribe fought for and led a hatchery program that expanded releases of fall chinook upstream of Lower Granite Dam. Both fall chinook and coho now provide annual fishing seasons.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
