A lot of folks showed up to fish the South Fork last weekend! We observed 5,157 hours of angling effort throughout the weekend. It was a really fun weekend, but a combination of factors resulted in the catch rates being less than stellar. While overall catch rate was around 18 hours per fish (not bad) the harvest rate was much lower at 40 hours per adult Chinook harvested.
In total we estimated that 98 hatchery adults and 32 hatchery jacks were harvested, and another 53 hatchery adults and 81unclipped adults were caught and released (see table below).
The river is low and warming up fast. This is certainly one of the factors that contributed to low catch rates over the weekend. There are plenty of fish in the river, but as soon as the sun hits the water the bite slows down considerably. Additionally, flows are low enough that the fish aren’t stopping much. I watched several groups of fish swimming up river this past weekend and they were moving FAST!
The weir has trapped 900 hatchery adults and 200 adipose-intact adults as of yesterday (6/29/21). Due to the warm water temperatures our staff have been transporting South Fork broodstock to Rapid River to hold them in colder water and reduce the occurrence of pre-spawn mortality – over 800 have been transferred to Rapid River for holding so far.
We still have about 300 hatchery adults remaining in our harvest share for this year, which means we can keep fishing.
The South Fork Salmon River Chinook fishery will be open Friday, July 2nd through Monday, July 5th.
This will likely be the last 4 days of the fishery this year, so get out there while you can.
Now that broodstock needs are nearly met, staff at the South Fork weir will be recycling harvestable hatchery adults back down river to provide more opportunity for anglers. They will be transported down river from the weir and released near Reed Ranch airstrip several times prior to the upcoming holiday weekend. In addition to those fish being back in the river and available to anglers, there are still lots of hatchery adults coming up from down river. Travel time from Lower Granite Dam to Krassel has averaged 20 days or less this year, and we've seen a strong push of South Fork Salmon River hatchery adults cross Lower Granite Dam in the last 20 days!
The heat wave this year has thrown some wrenches into the managing the South Fork Chinook fishery. The fish showed up earlier than normal, they are moving faster than normal, and low flows and increased water temperatures have influenced the bite. However, there are plenty of fish being caught and still plenty more available for harvest. Even if you don’t catch a fish, it’s still a great place to spend the weekend. Hopefully you’ve all enjoyed the opportunity to get out there and spend some time fishing the South Fork this year, and we hope to see you all again over the holiday weekend!
Be safe, have fun, clean up after yourself, and GOOD LUCK!