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Spring Chinook Fishing to Open for Two Days on Snake River Near Little Goose Dam by Staff Lewiston Tribune, May 22, 2021

The spring chinook salmon fishing season near Little Goose Dam will reopen Tuesday and Friday.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife closed the season there May 12 after anglers had exhausted the state's small quota in just three days of fishing. But fisheries managers in the Columbia River Basin recently upgraded their forecast for spring chinook. Prior to the season, they expected a return of 75,200 spring chinook to the mouth of the Columbia River and based seasons off of that forecast. They now are expecting 87,000.

Fisheries officials in Idaho will decide next week if the run is strong enough to allow fishing on the Clearwater River. Before the season started, they did not expect enough adult chinook to return to hatcheries on the Clearwater to meet spawning goals. Last week, they said the return to hatcheries may exceed spawning needs by about 300.

Through Thursday, 16,258 spring chinook had been counted at Lower Granite Dam. That is the highest return since 2016 but less than the 10-year average of 27,126.

Related Pages:
Clearwater Season Still Possible with a Bump in Chinook Counts by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 5/21/21
Spring Chinook Return Still Middling by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 5/7/21
Idaho's Spring Chinook Returns Remain Low, Clearwater Unlikely to Open to Anglers by Eli Francovich, Spokesman-Review, 5/12/21