- Anglers must cease fishing for Chinook salmon - including catch and release - when they retain the daily, possession or season limits for the water in which they are fishing.
- Anglers may not harvest more than 40 Chinook salmon 24 inches or more in total length during the season.
More Salmon Coming to the Boise River
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Idaho Fish and Game plans to bring more Chinook salmon to the Boise River on Wednesday afternoon, July 22.
About 500 fish will be split between five sites - Barber Park, the old Shakespeare site at the park center bridge, BSU, Americana Boulevard and the Glenwood Bridge. The fish are scheduled to arrive between 2 and 4 p.m. Wednesday.
A Chinook salmon fishing season is open on the Boise River downstream of Barber Dam 24 hours a day until September 6 or further notice.
"This is a taste of what used to be in the Boise River only a generation ago when people caught salmon and steelhead," said Jeff Dillon, fishery manager for Fish and Game's Southwest Region. "This gives people a chance to experience what their grandparents experienced."
Steelhead and Chinook salmon historically migrated up the Boise River and its tributaries to spawn. Today, Chinook are present in the Boise River only when stocked by Idaho Fish and Game. This year the large return of Chinook jacks to some of Idaho's hatcheries has allowed Fish and Game to move some of those fish to the Boise River.
Since July 2, Fish and Game has released 350 Chinook in the Boise. These are hatchery fish beyond what Idaho hatcheries need for broodstock to raise the next generation of salmon, which will be released to swim to the Pacific Ocean and return to Idaho a couple of years later.
They are mostly males, 20 to 25 inches long and three to six pounds.
The daily limit is two salmon - regardless of size - and the possession limit is six salmon, and all Chinook caught must be recorded on the angler's salmon permit.
Chinook salmon anglers may use hooks no larger than five-eight inch - barbless hooks are not required in the Boise River. Snagging or attempting to snag salmon is unlawful.