All,
I’m pleased to share that on Wed. 6/6 the IDFG commission approved the Upper Salmon River Chinook fishery. It was a bit touch and go for a while with fish returning quite a bit later (and in somewhat lower numbers) than expected. But we’ve got enough fish coming to provide some opportunity in the Upper Salmon.
See the link below for the full press release:
https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/fg-commission-meets-june-6-consider-chinook-seasons-and-rule-changes
The press release does not list the fishery boundaries for the Upper Salmon, which will be open from the Hwy 93 Bridge 0.3 miles south of the junction of Hwy 93 and Hwy 75 (just south of Challis – also known as the “Junction” bridge) upstream to the posted boundary approximately 100 yards downstream of the weir and trap at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery south of Stanley.
Fishing will open on 6/23, and the river is quickly dropping into shape. Flows in the upper Salmon have dropped from a high around 5,500 cfs measured below the Yankee Fork on May 26th to ~3,700 cfs today. As of Wednesday, the Salmon River above the East Fork had good visibility and looked very fishable. The East Fork Salmon was flowing high and muddy, so the Salmon downstream of the East Fork is pretty off-color – but we’ve got a couple of weeks for it to clear, and barring in major thunderstorms just prior to the opener, the entire upper river should be fishable.
We currently have an estimated 995 Sawtooth hatchery Chinook over Lower Granite Dam. The first Sawtooth fish over Lower Granite were detected on May 22nd through May25th, with another batch of Sawtooth fish coming over May 31 – June 5th. So we should have fish spread throughout the upper river come opening weekend.
Good luck out there, and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thanks!
