It’s early, but for once in what seems like forever, spring chinook are neither late nor scarce, according to counts at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
Through Tuesday, about 460 adult chinook and 77 jacks had been counted there. That is about double the 10-year average.
“We have already had a couple of Rapid River (fish) over Bonneville, which is pretty early,” said John Cassinelli, anadromous fish manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “Anything can happen but the early returns are promising. The next few weeks will be telling but things look good right now.”
While it may be foolish to make much of a run that has just started, it’s refreshing to see dam counts that are hopeful rather than disheartening. The last several years have been tough on both hatchery and wild chinook returning to the Columbia and Snake rivers. Too often, fish counts have failed to meet even modest, and sometimes downright poor, run forecasts.
This year, fisheries managers are predicting 122,900 spring chinook bound for tributaries above Bonneville Dam will make it at least as far as the mouth of the Columbia River. That number includes about 73,400 chinook headed for the Snake River and its tributaries, an increase of about 20,000 compared to last year.
Idaho Fish and Game officials predict about 39,600 hatchery spring chinook and 9,700 wild fish bound for Idaho will make it at least as far as Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. Wild fish urning to the Salmon River and its tributaries are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Compared to runs of the past five years or so, that isn’t a bad forecast. Idaho Fish and Game officials believe the hatchery component will be strong enough to provide seven-days-a-week fishing on most Idaho rivers where seasons are offered. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission recently approved seasons on the Clearwater, lower Salmon, Little Salmon and Snake rivers.
Compared to some of the better returns of this century, this year’s forecast is pretty pedestrian. Compared to the region’s loftier aspirations, it’s tiny.
But there hasn’t been much if any real spring chinook fishing on the Clearwater River for a couple of years. So anglers will likely welcome what looks to be a real opportunity to harvest a fish or two.
Here’s a run down of the season the commission approved last week:
Fishing will be open daily starting April 23 on sections of the lower Salmon, Little Salmon and Snake rivers, as well as the Clearwater River and its Middle and South forks. Fishing will be allowed four days a week — Thursdays through Sundays — on the North Fork of the Clearwater River.
Daily bag limits on the Snake River upstream of Dug Bar in Hells Canyon, the Clearwater River and its Middle and South forks will be up to four hatchery chinook but only one adult fish. Adults are any chinook that are at least 24 inches long. The bag limit on the lower Salmon River and Little Salmon River will be four hatchery chinook per day with a maximum of two adults.
Barker is the Outdoors Editor of the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
