Upper Salmon River Chinook update - 5/28/2026

Below is the second pre-season update for the upper Salmon River Chinook return and potential fisheries. 

Since my last update on May 19th, we’ve only seen one additional Sawtooth PIT tag cross over Bonneville Dam, bringing the current estimate to 1,790 adult Sawtooth Chinook over Bonneville. We should now be past the 50% mark of the Sawtooth run at Bonneville Dam, so to me this indicates that the run is on an early- to average-run timing, as mentioned in the previous update. The lack of PIT tags observed over the past week means that the run will likely come in somewhere between 2,200 and 2,800 fish 

Below is the updated run timing figure, with the current Sawtooth adult Chinook return (thick black line) at Bonneville Dam in comparison to the average return from 2009 - 2025 (red line). The gray line shows the 2016 return as an example of an earlier and larger return, the blue line represents 2025 as a later arriving average return, and the dotted horizontal line is the 2026 pre-season forecast. You can see how the run has flattened out since the last update (5/19). While I expect that we’ll continue to see some Sawtooth tags pass over Bonneville and that the run will still come in larger than the preseason forecast, it doesn’t seem to be on the same trajectory as the 2016 return when fish were early and the run continued to increase.

All that being said, and while the run is not as strong as we’d like to see, with an anticipated return of 2,200 to 2,800 fish and broodstock need of ~1,000 adults, that leaves some surplus fish for a fishery with a harvest share that will likely land somewhere between 300 and 500 adult Chinook.   

We still don’t know much about the Pahsimeroi return, with only 4 PIT tagged fish encountered at Bonneville Dam between 5/14 and 5/16. As mentioned before, we generally see about half of the Pahsimeroi return cross Bonneville during the first week of June, so we still have some time to track this run. 

Based on the observations of the Sawtooth return, the IDFG staff will be presenting a proposal for an upper Salmon River fishery to the IDFG Commission this Friday May 29th. The Commission will also entertain proposals for Chinook fisheries in the South Fork Salmon River and in the Lochsa River. Check our website for more information on those proposals. 

Regarding the upper Salmon proposal, as mentioned previously, the number of wild fish returning dictates the location of the lower boundary for our fisheries, and unfortunately, wild fish returns are relatively low this year. The low adult returns require us to fish above Valley Creek to reduce impacts on wild ESA-listed Chinook. Our Chinook fishery proposal is to open the upper Salmon River on June 18th, 2026, from 50 yards upstream of the mouth of the Valley Creek upstream to the posted boundary approximately 100 yards downstream from the Idaho Fish and Game Sawtooth Hatchery weir and trap. If approved, the fishery would be open 7 days per week with a daily bag limit of four (4) adipose-clipped Chinook Salmon, only two (2) of which may be adults. 

We will continue to keep eyes on the Pahsimeroi run, and if we can propose a fishery on that stock, it would be proposed later, and if approved, open later to reduce impacts on upriver wild stocks. In the meantime, keep an eye on our website to see the results of the Commission meeting on Friday.

 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 call the Salmon Regional Office at (208) 756-2271.

Thanks,

Greg