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Springers on the Move: Snake River Anglers Await Fish by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, April 28, 2023

"I would be shocked if we hit our forecast but I don't think it's a complete bust."
-- Chris Donely, fish program manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Spring chinook have started to move up the Columbia River, boosting hopes that a predicted surplus of hatchery fish will support modest fisheries on the Snake, Salmon and Clearwater rivers.

The fish are behind schedule, perhaps delayed by cool water temperatures in the lower Columbia River. Chris Donely, fish program manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the spring chinook generally start moving uppriver and pass Bonneville Dam when water temperatures hit about 9 degrees Celsius, or 48.2 degrees Fahrenheit. That happened Saturday and, since then, temperatures have crept to above 10 degrees C. During that time, daily counts of adult chinook at Bonneville Dam climbed from about 450 a day to more than 1,200.

Through Wednesday, 6,814 adult chinook had been counted passing the dam. That is about 35% of the 10-year average.

Predicting what the fish will do early in the run is difficult. But Donely thinks the slow start likely indicates the run will not be as robust as managers had hoped.

"I would be shocked if we hit our forecast but I don't think it's a complete bust. When they are super abundant they don't come super late," he said. "My gut says we will be close to the forecast but we are not going over like last year."

Washington's spring chinook fishing season on the Snake River starts Tuesday. As in recent years, fishing will be allowed two days a week each near Ice Harbor and Little Goose dams. The Little Goose area will be open Tuesdays and Fridays and the Ice Harbor area will be open Wednesdays and Thursdays. The daily bag limit will be as many as four hatchery spring chinook, of which only one can be an adult fish.

The state has set a target quota of 669 adult chinook for the fishery.

Idaho's spring chinook season on the Clearwater River and its tributaries, the lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers and the Snake River in the upper section of Hells Canyon opened last week.

As of Wednesday, only 18 adult chinook had been counted at Lower Granite Dam. The 10-year average is 482.