Fort Peck fisheries and hatchery staff have been focusing on Chinook salmon electrofishing and egg-taking operations over the past week. The salmon snagging season for anglers began last Friday, Oct. 1. Decent numbers of salmon have been present, but size of fish captured (and caught by anglers) has been smaller compared to the previous year. So far, most salmon collected have been males averaging close to 5 pounds. Salmon have been spread out in various bays near the dam area. There aren’t any big concentrations at the moment which suggest spawning activity is still a bit early and water surface temperature have been unseasonably warm – 64 F when electrofishing efforts first commenced. Thankfully, water temperatures have cooled down a bit. As a result, we’ve observed a few larger female salmon starting to trickle in. We typically notice more spawning activity when water temperatures stay around 55 F. We had our first egg-take today, with 45,920 green eggs collected. Anglers, boaters and other recreationists: Please use caution while FWP crews are electrofishing in the area. Thanks!
