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Idaho Expects Large Spring Run of Chinook Salmon by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, Feburary 6, 2010

When it comes to chinook salmon, this spring could be a repeat of 2001, the recent high-water mark for salmon fishing in Idaho.

Sort of.

Fisheries managers in Idaho are predicting a return of 180,000 spring chinook above Lower Granite Dam, 35 miles west of Lewiston. Of that, about 25,000 will be wild chinook.

But the run, as currently forecast, will be lopsided, with a large majority of hatchery fish returning to the Salmon River basin and to Hells Canyon.

Ed Schriever, chief of the fisheries bureau of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise, said 140,000 chinook headed for the Salmon River and Hells Canyon are expected to return and 70,000 of those could be bound for the Rapid River Hatchery near Riggins.

That is nearly one-half of the projected return of hatchery chinook.

About 15,000 chinook are projected to return to the Clearwater River.

"People should remember, in 2001 the sport fishery harvested over 20,000 fish in the Clearwater," he said. "The Clearwater will not be as good as it was in 2001 based on the forecast we have today. It's still going to be good. It is going to be better than it was the last couple of years."

For perspective, Schriever said the 2010 return of chinook to the Clearwater River will be about three times what it was last year. But it will pale in comparison to the number of fish returning to the Lower Salmon River and to Hells Canyon.

There is a good chance that when all those fish surge into Idaho waters, fishing conditions will be excellent. Snowpacks in the Clearwater and Salmon river basins are well below average, and that could likely lead to a short and below- average high-water season. High water and the debris and mud it carries can make salmon fishing difficult. Anglers saw similar conditions in 2001, which also was preceded by an exceptionally mild winter.

Schriever said the Idaho Fish and Game Commission is expected to set bag limits, fishing boundaries and dates for the 2010 spring chinook fishing season in March. The boundaries are likely to be similar to last year, and the bag limits could initially be on the conservative side.

If the fish show up at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River as projected, bag limits can be expanded.

"We will likely not start not full bore from a bag limit standpoint," he said. "If the run comes in as expected, we can increase bag limits really before the fish get here."

The prediction is based on last year's huge return of spring chinook jacks, salmon that spend just one year in the ocean.

Some fisheries managers are predicting an even bigger return.

The technical advisory committee, made of state, tribal and federal fisheries managers, is estimating a return of 225,000 spring chinook to the Snake River and its tributaries.