I do what to bring to all of your attentions, that if the harvest shares listed above are fairly accurate, we will likely adjust our seasons and limits. If you read my first update (Chinook update 4/20/23), you may recall that I presented “harvest matrixes” for each of the spring Chinook Salmon fisheries that describes the seasons and limits we would apply depending on harvest shares. The harvest matrix for both the Rapid River return and Clearwater fisheries indicate that if the harvest share is below 2,000 adult fish, the season would drop down to 4-days a week (Thr – Sun) with a 1-adult daily limit. Don't be surprised if changes in the seasons and limits occur next week.

Finally, I need to point out that Sawthooth Hatchery fish have been passing over Bonneville Dam for the last week. This means that these fish will be mixed in with the Rapid River fish as they ascend the lower Salmon River. The significance of this is that we want to minimize harvest of the Sawtooth fish in the lower Salmon so that we can provide a fishery on them in the upper Salmon River basin. Where we have the most impact on these upriver fish is in the lower Salmon River downstream of Hammer Creek. As such, I want to give you all a warning that it may be necessary to shut this section of river down fairly quickly. The section of river between Hammer Creek and Time Zone Bridge may also face a similar challenge. We will keep you appraised of this issue as the season progresses.

Fisheries

Last week we did not observe any fish being harvested. However, I have heard of a couple reports of fish being caught this week around Lewiston. We won’t summarize the harvest data for this week until next Tuesday, so stay tuned for that. Right now, catch rates are really slow, and I don’t expect them to get decent until this surge of fish passing over Bonneville Dam gets to Idaho. They should arrive here in 10-14 days.

Have a good weekend!