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Chinook Season to End on South Fork of Salmon by Pete Zimowsky The Idaho Statesman, July 17, 2002

The salmon season will close on the South Fork of the Salmon River at 10:26 p.m. Thursday, but it won't soon be forgotten. There are a lot of fillets in the freezer.

More hatchery chinooks were caught and more hours were spent fishing on the South Fork this year than last year, according to Idaho Fish and Game estimates.

“The season was incredible with lots of big fish,” said Debbie Whitehead, of Tackle Tom's in Cascade.

Fish and Game is still counting the number of fish caught by anglers since the opening on the South Fork June 19 (a 30-day season), but is projecting a catch of about 7,100 adult salmon.

During last year's season, which ran for 23 days, 6,000 adult salmon were caught.

Anglers put in about 78,900 hours of fishing on the river, 25 miles east of Cascade, compared to 53,200 hours last year.

“A lot of folks out there put in four and five hours per fish,” said Sharon Kiefer, F&G anadromous fishery manager. “For any salmon fishery, that's a phenomenal catch rate.”

The season's end is called when a harvest quota of between 6,500 and 7,000 fish is met, Kiefer said Tuesday.

Anglers should keep in mind:

• Rules for check stations are still in effect. Anglers catching fish on Thursday must still check their fish in by 11 p.m. that day.
• Salmon fishing still is open in the Little Salmon River, parts of the Clearwater, Snake River in Hells Canyon and the Boise River. Anglers should check specific rules in regulation booklets available at fishing shops.