The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will not open the South Fork of the Salmon River to summer chinook fishing this year. Agency officials say too few hatchery chinook are returning to the river east of McCall this year to support a fishery.
However, the return does appear strong enough to meet spawning goals at the McCall Hatchery.
The Clearwater River closed early to spring chinook fishing when salmon and steelhead managers determined not enough hatchery fish would return to meet spawning goals. The lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers were open to salmon fishing for a few weeks, but closed after anglers met harvest quotas.
The only open chinook fishing season in Idaho is on a portion of the Middle Fork of the Clearwater east of Kooskia. Anglers there are targeting about 1,200 hatchery chinook bound for the Selway.
Fish and Game says while most of the spring chinook bound for the Selway River have already passed through the Middle Fork of the Clearwater, there is a small number of summer chinook that have yet to do so. (Lewiston Tribune)
