Hi everyone, this Jordan Messner, Regional Fisheries Manager in McCall. I wanted to reach out and let you all know that the IDFG Commission approved our proposal for the South Fork Salmon River Chinook fishery this morning. 

Season structure

Opening day for the fishery will be Thursday, June 22. Fishing hours will be from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., open seven days per week until harvest share is reached, wild fish impacts are reached, or August 10 – whichever comes first. The daily limit is four fish per day, only one of which may be an adult (over 24 inches). Remember, once you harvest an adult you must stop fishing for the day. So the only way you can keep four fish for the day is if you harvest three jacks first, then an adult – or if you harvest four jacks. The fishery boundary will be the same as last year, open from 100 yards below the South Fork weir to the Jakie Creek Bridge which is approximately 23 miles downstream.

Run Forecast

As usual, South Fork fish are still coming over Bonneville Dam, so we’re still fine-tuning the estimates. Here is what we know so far. The current estimate as of today, is that 2,567 adults bound for the South Fork Salmon have crossed over Bonneville Dam, and 1,078 of those adults have passed over Lower Granite Dam. Based on average run timing and average conversion rates to the fishery, we are currently estimating a harvest share of approximately 659 adults for the sport fishery on the South Fork Salmon River this year (see table below). For perspective, last year’s harvest share was 995 adults.