FISHING -- About 1,000 spring chinook will be holding in Idaho water's when the season opens in the Clearwater Region on Saturday -- and that's more than usual for the opener.
Joe DuPont, Idaho Fish and Game Department regional fisheries managers made these observations Thursday:
- This year’s run appears to be earlier than we have seen in the past few years, and I suspect by opening day there will be around 1,000 adult hatchery Chinook in Idaho. I know this isn’t a lot, but that’s considerably more than we have seen on most opening days.
- We certainly won’t see good catch rates this opening weekend, but I bet we will see a few lucky anglers who catch a fish in the Lower Clearwater.
- Based on counts at Bonneville Dam, I suspect it won’t get real good around Lewiston for another 10 days.
- If these lower flows and clearer waters persist, the fish will move faster than they have in the past.
- When large numbers of fish start coming over Lower Granite Dam, they could reach the lower Salmon River and upper Clearwater River fisheries in a week.
