the film forum library tutorial contact

Anglers Get a Brief Crack at Chinook by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, May 2, 2025

They'll be limited to two days of fishing per week on lower Snake River

Anglers will get a crack at catching spring chinook from the lower Snake River in Washington, but the opportunity will be limited to two days a week.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Thursday that fishing for spring chinook will be allowed near Little Goose Dam on Tuesdays and Fridays starting next week.

The daily bag limit will be four hatchery spring chinook, of which only one can be an adult fish. The season will close after anglers have reached a quota now estimated at 407. Fishing will be allowed between the Texas Rapid Boat Ramp and the mouth of the Tucannon River.

Chris Donley, fish program manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at Spokane, said the run forecast is too small to open fishing at other places like Ice Harbor Dam and the season may be quite short.

"Looking at (fish) passage we will probably have two fisheries at Goose," he said.

Following an official run forecast update expected around the middle of the month, Donley said it's possible the season could run longer or fishing could be expanded to Ice Harbor if fish returns exceed expectations. But he said anglers eager to catch fish shouldn't count on it.

"With a run this size, if you really want one you better get up and go," he said.

Idaho's season is already underway even though few fish have reached the Snake River above fishing grounds in the Gem State.

As of Wednesday, 28,848 adult spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which is on pace with the 10-year average. At Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, only 258 adult chinook had been counted as of Wednesday. The 10-year average is more than 1,500.

Early monitoring of the run at Bonneville Dam shows it may exceed preseason forecasts and ultimately push up harvest shares -- the number of fish anglers can catch and keep. However, harvest estimates based on dam counts and other monitoring of the front end of the run can swing dramatically.

On the Clearwater River, the preseason forecast called for a harvest share of about 1,100 adult hatchery fish. Following the first full week of season, Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston, said if the early numbers held -- a result he did not expect -- the harvest share would exceed 6,000 fish. By early this week, the Clearwater harvest share estimate dropped to about 4,300. If that pace holds, fishing could be extended to seven days per week.

"The projected harvest share did drop considerably from the previous week, so we will want it to stabilize before we recommend any changes to the season," DuPont said in his weekly report on the run.