Salmon Season Likely for Next Summer

Salmon anglers have caught about half as many hatchery chinook this year as they did in last year's seasons but still enough to raise enthusiasm for another year of fishing in Idaho. Early and highly tentative predictions for next year call for about 45,000 adult spring and summer chinook to clear Lower Granite Dam. Similar to previous years, about 75 percent of the fish are expected to be hatchery produced. The majority of these fish are expected to enter Idaho. The spring chinook count at the dam this year was about 75,000 with 20,500 summer chinook seen there as of July 15. Though the run will be smaller than this year's and far below the historic run of 2001, the hatchery portion of the run should still provide fishing opportunity. Last year, salmon anglers in Idaho took about 43,000 fish. The final harvest this year is expected to be about 19,200. Next year's seasons may not include as many fishing waters as this year's and season limits will likely be smaller, but Idaho anglers will probably be able to fish for salmon again, a popular activity enjoyed only a few times in the last 25 years.