Upper Salmon River Chinook Fishery Update - 7/12/2023

Hi everyone, 

During the third week of the 2023 upper Salmon River fishery, angler effort and catch more than doubled. Angler effort increased to 5,911 hours for the week of 7/3 – 7/9/2023, and we estimated 385 adipose-clipped hatchery adult Chinook and 69 adipose-clipped hatchery jack Chinook were harvested. This produced a harvest rate of 13 hours per Chinook kept. Additionally, we estimated that 89 Chinook were caught and released, resulting in a catch rate of 11 hours per Chinook Salmon caught.

RUN and HARVEST SHARE UPDATE

Nothing has changed regarding dam passage or harvest share since last week’s report. The last of the PIT-tagged salmon bound for the upper Salmon River have now crossed over Lower Granite Dam, so the numbers in the table below are not expected to change. The harvest share for the upper Salmon River fishery is 1,082 fish (see table below).

RUN TIMING

Since last Tuesday, another 78 PIT-tagged Chinook have been detected at the Elevenmile PIT array (~11 miles upstream of Salmon). This is a mix of wild and hatchery fish, many of which were tagged as adults returning over Bonneville or Lower Granite Dam – which means we don’t necessarily know which tributary or hatchery they will return to. With all those tags detected during the last week, now is the time to fish if you haven’t made it out yet.

RIVER CONDITIONS

As of today, the upper Salmon River is flowing at about 1,080 cfs (measured at the gauge below the Yankee Fork) which is 74% of average. The river’s clarity upstream of the East Fork was excellent throughout last week, and on Sunday, mid-day river temperatures were in the upper 50s. 

HATCHERY TRAPPING

Sawtooth Hatchery personnel have checked the trap daily since July 3rd. To date, they have trapped 795 adult Chinook. More details can be found on the Hatchery Returns webpage, so make sure to bookmark that page so you can stay up-to-date with the trapping totals.

RULES 

The upper Salmon River fishery is open 7 days a week, and will remain open until harvest share is reached, wild fish impacts are reached, or until August 10th, whichever comes first. The fishery is open from the Hwy 75 bridge upstream of the East Fork Salmon River upstream to the posted boundary approximately 100 yards downstream of the weir and trap at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. Fishing hours are from 5:30am to 10:00 pm MDT. The daily limit is four (4) hatchery Chinook salmon, only two (2) of which may be adults (over 24 inches). For the full season rules, please click here.

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be added to my email update list, please reach out to me at: greg.schoby@idfg.idaho.gov or at the Salmon Regional Office at (208) 756-2271.