Hi everybody, it is time for the Clearwater Region’s Weekly Chinook update (5/31/16). For those of you who like to fish the lower Salmon River or Hells Canyon, please pay attention to the fishery information below (in BOLD) as there are closures coming your way.
Harvest Shares
The run of spring Chinook Salmon passing over Bonneville Dam that are bound for Clearwater Region fisheries has pretty much ended. As such, we will start looking at the number of Chinook that have passed over Lower Granite Dam to determine our final Harvest Share for each of the fisheries in the Clearwater Region. The table below shows the estimated number of adult fish that have passed over Lower Granite Dam (and associated harvest shares) based on PIT tags. These harvest shares will increase a little as we know some fish are still making their migration between Bonneville and Lower Granite dams. I suspect the final adult harvest share for the Clearwater run will be about 3,200 fish, the Rapid River run will be about 4,000 fish, and the Hells Canyon fishery will be about 540 fish.
Clearwater River Fishery
Last week catch rates in all open areas in the Clearwater basin improved over the previous week. Combine this improvement in catch rates with increased effort due to Memorial Weekend, and we documented a fair bit of harvest. The best catch rates were in the North Fork (7 hrs/fish), although fishing in the main Clearwater River and Middle Fork Clearwater Rivers was decent (15-17 hrs/fish) as well. Fishing was still slow in the South Fork Clearwater River (35 hrs/fish), but I suspect catch rates will improve as the number of PIT tagged fish passing over the PIT tag array near Stites has really picked up over the last four days.
Remember, everything downstream of Orofino Bridge, including the North Fork is now closed to Chinook Salmon fishing. The Clearwater River upstream of Orofino Bridge, Middle Fork Clearwater River, South Fork Clearwater River and Lochsa River all are still open to Chinook Salmon Fishing. The next time we will look at the data will be next Monday. So, all these areas will remain open until at least then.
Rapid River Run
Catch rates improved last week throughout the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers over what occurred the previous week. The best catch rates were in sections 1 and 3 of the on the lower Salmon River (8-10 hrs/fish). Fishing on the Little Salmon River picked up considerably (18 hrs/fish) with catch rates really improving toward the end of the week. With the increased effort (Memorial Weekend) and the higher catch rates, we documented considerable harvest in this fishery (see table below). As I indicated last week, with the lower harvest share this year and good fishing conditions (lack of high dirty water), closures could come quickly. Well, unfortunately, that is the case once again. If we don’t make some closures soon, we could have to shut down the entire Rapid River run fishery by this weekend. TO TRY AND PRESERVE SOME FISHING OPPORTUNITY IN THE LITTLE SALMON RIVER PAST THIS WEEKEND, WE WILL BE CLOSING THE ENTIRE LOWER SALMON RIVER TO FISHING FOR CHINOOK SALMON AT THE END OF THE FISHING HOURS THIS THURSDAY (JUNE 2, 2016) The next time we will look at the data will be next Monday, so the Little Salmon River will remain open until at least then.
Hells Canyon Fishery
As predicted, catch rates did drop some last week below Hells Canyon Dam (17 hrs/fish), but it will still good enough to provide a fair amount of harvest. Through our creel surveys, we estimated 125 adult Chinook were harvested bringing the yearly total to 355 fish. We anticipate that by this Thursday (June 2, 2016) the total harvest will be near 400 fish. The remaining fish will be trapped to help insure we meet brood needs (we are concerned because few have been trapped to date) and to fulfill other established state and tribal objectives. AS A RESULT, WE WILL BE CLOSING THE ENTIRE SNAKE RIVER TO FISHING FOR CHINOOK SALMON AT THE END OF FISHING HOURS THIS THURSDAY (JUNE 2, 2016) This certainly is an unusual year. This is the first time to my knowledge that we have had to shut down the Hells Canyon fishery early.
A Short Season
I know many of you are disappointed with how short this season was (or is becoming), and I can tell you that I don’t like it either. Like many of you, I look forward to my days salmon fishing and have a hard time focusing when the fish are in. My hopes are ocean conditions will change soon so that down years like this become the rare exception. I can tell you that Fish and Game is not satisfied with these smaller runs and will continue to work hard to help bring better salmon returns to all of us in the future.
I need to apologize to all of you who have been leaving e-mails and phone messages over the past 5-6 days that I haven’t returned. Please realize that I am not ignoring you, but between a very busy work schedule and taking some time off to salmon fish, I’ve got behind. I’m hoping to get all caught up with my messages by the end of the week. Finally, it was nice seeing many of you on the river, even if you gave me flack for not being able to catch any fish. If you are wondering…..yes, I finally did tag a few.
Take care everybody. - Joe DuPont, Clearwater Region Fish Manager