Chinook Salmon Fishing Update 6/25/2024: Rapid River Run, Hells Canyon, and Clearwater River Fisheries

Hi everybody.

It is time for my weekly spring Chinook Salmon update (June 25, 2024). The good news is there will be no additional closures this week for any of the spring Chinook Salmon fisheries.

HARVEST SHARES

Chinook Salmon harvest shares for the different fisheries in the Clearwater Region are shown in the table below. The only change from last week is for the Clearwater River Return fishery which increased by 229 fish as the Dworshak Hatchery fish continue to trickle over Lower Granite Dam. Harvest shares as of June 24, 2024 are 4,755 adult fish for the Clearwater River Return fishery (darker peach row), 2,408 for the Rapid River Return fishery (darker blue row), and 813 for the Hells Canyon fishery (green row). I’ve also added a row in grey which is the harvest share for the Lochsa Summer Chinook Salmon fishery. The table below shows the harvest share at 176 adult fish, but more fish are on the way. We suspect the harvest share will climb up to around 260 fish by the time their run over Lower Granite Dam is complete.

FISHERIES

Clearwater River Basin Fishery

Last week, we estimated that 247 adult Chinook Salmon were harvested in the Clearwater River basin fishery (see table below). We documented harvest in the North Fork Clearwater (148 fish), Middle Fork Clearwater (66 fish) and South Fork Clearwater (33 fish) rivers. Catch rates were really good (5-8 hrs/fish) in the North Fork and Middle Fork, but slower (17 hrs/fish) in the South Fork. Currently, we estimate that 770 fish have been harvested from the North Fork (Section 3), which is 181 fish short of reaching it’s 20% harvest distribution goal (see blue area in table below). This leaves at least another week’s worth of fishing there. All totaled, we estimate that 4,100 adult fish have been harvested in the Clearwater River Basin Fishery leaving 655 more fish to go before our harvest share is met.

Last week I mentioned that not many fish had been trapped at Kooskia Hatchery, and if we didn’t start collecting broodstock there soon, it might be necessary to make some closures. Well, after a thorough investigation by the Nez Perce Tribe, they found that many of the fish were swimming into a side channel where they couldn’t enter the trap. Once this side channel was blocked off, around 80 fish a day have been entering the trap. This is good news and precludes the need to make any closures. As such, all river sections will remain open for at least another week.

Lochsa River Summer Run Fishery

The Lochsa River summer run fishery opened last Thursday (June 20). Fishing effort has been slow, and we have not observed harvest of an adult fish yet. However, PIT tag detections on the Lochsa River arrays indicate over 200 adult hatchery salmon have entered the river with more on the way.

Rapid River Run Fishery

Last week, the only area in the Rapid River Run Fishery that was open to fishing was the Little Salmon River. We estimate that 228 adult fish were caught with catch rates being around 8 hrs/fish (see Table below). This brings the season harvest total to 1,886 adult fish and leaves 521 fish before our harvest share is met. As such, the Little Salmon River will remain open for at least another week.

Hells Canyon Fishery

We estimate that 47 adults and 5 jacks were harvested last week below Hells Canyon Dam (see Table below). Catch rates averaged 11 hrs/fish based on the people we interviewed. As of last Sunday (June 23, 2024), we estimate that 701 adult fish have been harvested which leaves 110 more before we reach our harvest share. As such, this fishery will remain open for at least another week. 

For those of you still looking to catch a salmon with relatively low competition, there are some good opportunities to be had. 

Good luck!