Spring Chinook Salmon Fishery Update (7/27/2022)
Clearwater River Return, Rapid River Run, Hells Canyon and Lochsa River Fisheries
by Joe DuPont
Hi everybody, it is time for my last weekly spring Chinook Salmon update (7/27/2022). All fisheries that are currently open will close at the end of fishing hours on August 7, 2022.
Run Update
The harvest share table below shows our final harvest share for spring and summer Chinook Salmon fisheries in the Clearwater Region. For the Clearwater River fishery, the harvest share is 5,735 adult fish (shown in darker pink row), 3,630 for the Rapid River run fishery (blue row), zero for Hells Canyon (green row) and 145 for the Lochsa River fishery (yellow row).
FISHERIES
Clearwater River Basin Fishery
Over the last two weeks very little fishing effort has occurred in the Clearwater River basin for spring Chinook Salmon. Most of this effort occurred in the North Fork Clearwater with average catch rates ranging from 4 to 8 hrs/fish. If you look at the table below, you will see that we estimate 4,824 adult fish have been harvested over the season which used up 84% of our harvest share. We were able to keep all river sections open 6 or more weeks once the fish got there which is very good. In the past, we struggled to keep these fisheries open this long even during larger returns. All the river reaches that are currently open in Clearwater River basin will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 7, 2022 at which point they will all close.
Rapid River Run Fishery
This fishery closed at the end of fishing hours on July 1, 2022.
Hells Canyon Fishery
Over the last couple of weeks, we observed just a few people fishing below Hells Canyon Dam for salmon. Catch rates for those anglers were actually good at 3 hrs/fish. Adding in the estimated harvest over the last two weeks (11 jacks) our season harvest total amounted to 19 adults and 118 jacks. This fishery will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 7, 2022 at which point it will close.
Lochsa River Fishery
Fishing picked up two weeks ago in the Lochsa River as we estimated 45 adult summer Chinook Salmon were harvested, and catch rates averaged about 12 hrs/fish. Then, last week we estimated that only 3 adults were harvested. It appears that most of these fish have pushed through this fishery or have settled down to wait until spawning time. The harvest over the past two weeks brings our total to 53 fish with 92 fish left in our harvest share (see table below). We will be recycling some jacks back into the fishery for those that are still interested in fishing for summer Chinook Salmon. This fishery will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 7, 2022 at which point it will close.
Well that is it for my spring/summer Chinook Salmon updates. With the fall Chinook Salmon season starting on August 18, and the steelhead catch-and-release season already open, stay tuned for some updates in the near future on these fisheries.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer.