Salmon Season in the South Fork Salmon River

Meeting by conference call May 30, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved a season on hatchery chinook salmon for the South Fork of the Salmon River. The season will open June 10 if a permit is received from the National Marine Fisheries Service by that date. It will run through Aug. 5 unless it is closed earlier for biological reasons. The hatchery salmon are adults which have migrated from the Pacific Ocean to the South Fork, after being hatched and reared at the McCall Fish Hatchery and released into the South Fork in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Hatchery salmon can be identified because their adipose fin has been removed. There are also wild salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act in the South Fork also. Wild salmon can be identified by having an adipose fin, and must be released unharmed. Limits are two per day. Anglers may have four salmon in possession in the field or while in transit home. Anyone who has caught their daily limit in another area, for instance the Little Salmon River, cannot come to the South Fork Salmon River and continue to fish with the other salmon still in possession, since the daily limit on the South Fork would have already been reached or passed. The statewide season limit is 40. Since 20 salmon can be recorded on one permit, a second salmon permit must be purchased to keep 40 fish. All salmon harvested statewide must be included in the season limit. The South Fork will be open from the mouth of Goat Creek to a posted boundary about 100 yards downstream from the South Fork Salmon River salmon weir. Fishing hours are from 6:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m., daily. A check station will be set up near Knox Ranch on the South Fork road. Every salmon harvested from the South Fork must be checked by 10:00 p.m. on the day it was caught. A receipt will be issued for each fish, verifying that the angler has met the mandatory check requirement. All anglers - successful and unsuccessful - are required to stop at any Fish and Game check station they encounter. Barbless hooks are required when fishing in the South Fork for any species. They are also required in the catch-and-release trout season in the South Fork and its tributaries. Bait is legal when fishing for salmon, but not for trout or whitefish. Anglers need a salmon permit to fish for these hatchery fish, and with each fish kept, the permit must be notched to indicate the catch. Kids under 14 can fish without a permit as long as they fish with an adult who has a permit, and their catch is recorded on the adult's permit. Resident youngsters can also purchase a permit of their own and keep their own limit, even if they are younger than the required age for buying a fishing license. The South Fork road is a single-lane paved road with limited sight distance. Traffic can be heavy during salmon season and parking, camping and toilet facilities are limited. Anglers coming into the area on Forest Highway 22 will find an information station at the crossing of Warm Lake Creek where they can pick up a handout identifying parking, camping areas and other important information. The Boise National Forest has new parking rules along the paved road this year. No vehicles can be parked on the pavement except in designated paved parking areas. Vehicles can park along the road but the vehicle must be completely off the pavement or a citation will be issued by the Forest Service. Vehicles illegally parked or parked causing road obstructions will be ticketed and may be towed. These new rules actually increase the parking available but also address keeping the road open for emergency vehicles. As of May 30, an estimated 4,270 hatchery salmon have been caught on the Lower Salmon River, 5,370 in the Little Salmon, and 9,690 in the Clearwater River drainage. The South Fork season will add to that total. At this time an estimated 4,800 South Fork hatchery chinook have crossed Lower Granite Dam. The Department expects a total of about 13,000 wild and hatchery chinook to migrate to the South Fork of the Salmon River.