South Fork Chinook Season Closes Wednesday

Chinook fishing on the South Fork of the Salmon River will stop Wednesday night. The fishery will close at 10:26 p.m. July 16. Idaho Fish and Game fisheries biologists have determined that the harvest target will have been met by that time. The salmon run consists of both hatchery and wild fish. Hatchery fish returning to the South Fork in excess of broodstock needs for the hatchery program are shared in sport and tribal fisheries. The latest estimate for hatchery-raised, adipose fin-clipped chinook returning to the South Fork Salmon River is 10,629. Subtracting broodstock needed for hatchery rearing purposes left a state harvest target of 4,615 fish. Through July 13, anglers harvested 4,140 fish in the sport fishery and biologists forecast harvest of another 250 to 300 fish a day through Wednesday for an additional 750 to 900 fish. Notice of the closure was issued Monday to allow time for anglers to be informed. Chinook fishing is still open on the Little Salmon River, lower mainstem and North Fork of the Clearwater, the South Fork Clearwater, the Lochsa River and on the Kooskia stretch of the Clearwater to Clear Creek. The only current closures are on the South Fork Salmon River and the Lower Salmon River.