South Fork Salmon River Chinook fishery forecast

Hi everyone, this is Jordan Messner, Regional Fisheries Manager in McCall. I wanted to reach out and let you all know that the IDFG Commission approved the South Fork Salmon River Chinook fishery. 

Season structure

Opening day for the fishery will be Thursday, June 22. Fishing hours will be from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., open seven days per week until harvest share is reached, wild fish impacts are reached, or August 10 – whichever comes first. The daily limit is four fish per day, only one of which may be an adult (over 24 inches). Remember, once you harvest an adult you must stop fishing for the day. So the only way you can keep four fish for the day is if you harvest three jacks first, then an adult – or if you harvest four jacks. 

The fishery boundary will be the same as last year, open from 100 yards below the South Fork weir to the Jakie Creek Bridge which is approximately 23 miles downstream. This is why I decided to go with a 7 day per week fishery. I didn't want to limit both the time and space you could fish. I know this will upset some of you. Next year we will re-evaluate boundaries during pre-season scoping. Please participate in pre-season scoping if you would like your voice to be heard.

Run Forecast

As usual, South Fork fish are still coming over Bonneville Dam, so we’re still fine-tuning the estimates. Here is what we know so far. The current estimate as of today, is that 2,567 adults bound for the South Fork Salmon have crossed over Bonneville Dam, and 1,078 of those adults have passed over Lower Granite Dam. Based on average run timing and average conversion rates to the fishery, we are currently estimating a harvest share of approximately 659 adults for the sport fishery on the South Fork Salmon River this year (see table below). For perspective, last year’s harvest share was 995 adults. 

Run Timing

The next thing you’re probably curious about is “when will the fish be here?” 

The first South Fork bound fish passed over Lower Granite Dam on May 27, but the bulk of the fish that have come over Lower Granite Dam so far were during the first week of June. It generally takes about two weeks for those fish to reach the Krassel PIT tag array on the South Fork Salmon River, which is just below the bottom boundary of the fishery. As of today, there have been no detections in the South Fork Salmon yet. However, with the numbers that came over Lower Granite during the first week of June, I would suspect fish will be in the system when the fishery opens on June 22. Last year, I posted a tutorial to run you through how to keep an eye on PIT tag detections in the South Fork Salmon watershed for yourselves. 

That’s all I have for you right now. I’ll post another update early next week to keep you all in the loop. In the meantime, keep an eye on those PIT tag detections and get your gear ready for the South Fork fishery when it opens. 

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this. I had the opportunity to get my 6-year-old into his first Chinook Salmon this past weekend down in Riggins. I hope you all also get to spend time on the river with your family and friends this season. I wish we had higher runs this year and our seasons were lasting longer, but at the very least – take advantage of the time you have and make the most of it. This is what its all about!