Upper Salmon River Chinook update - 6/26/2024

Hi everyone, the Upper Salmon River fishery opened this past Thursday (6/20/24), and we estimated that 2 hatchery adult Chinook Salmon were harvested during the first four days of the fishery. Angler effort was very low during the first week. We estimated that anglers fished for 276 hours between Thursday and Sunday. No anglers reported catching a jack or releasing any salmon which resulted in an average harvest rate of 138 hours per Chinook Salmon kept.

RULES

The Upper Salmon River fishery is open 4 days a week (Thursday - Sunday), and it will reopen each Thursday until harvest share is reached, wild fish impacts are reached, or until August 10th, whichever comes first. The fishery is open from 100 yards upstream of the Valley Creek confluence to the posted boundary approximately 100 yards downstream of the weir and trap at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. Fishing hours are from 5:30am to 10:00 pm MDT. The daily limit is four (4) hatchery Chinook salmon, only two (2) of which may be adults (over 24 inches). For the full season rules, please click here.

RUN and HARVEST SHARE UPDATE

Below is a table showing the pre-season forecast and current (as of June 25th) PIT tag estimate at Bonneville Dam for adipose-clipped adult salmon returning to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. The run of Sawtooth Hatchery adults is nearly complete at Bonneville Dam, so we do not expect these numbers to change much, and we'll start focusing more on the number of Sawtooth Hatchery adults that make it upstream of Lower Granite Dam instead.