“I hope you are ready to catch some salmon, because they are on their way!”
~Joe DuPont, the Clearwater Region Fishery Manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game 

What a great line…I had to use it! Thanks Joe. Yes, the fish are definitely on their way; numbers are fabulous at Bonneville Dam and improving daily at Lower Granite! The first Chinook are expected to be in the Snake and Salmon Rivers this week and, while this will not be the bulk of the fish or the prime of the season, it means that the possibility of you being the first person, in 2012, to catch a Chinook in the Salmon and Little Salmon Rivers has become a reality

Water level this morning at the White Bird gauge is 43,800 CFS and water temperature is at 51 degrees. The USGS Hydrologic Prediction Service is predicting that the Salmon River flow will rise this week due to the recent warm weather. Their graph shows the Salmon River hitting a flow of about 55,000 CFS sometime Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, and beginning a descent late Friday or early Saturday, staying between 40,000-50,000 CFS until next Tuesday, May 22.  Our Riggins area weather forecast is calling for beautiful sunny days with warm temperatures today and tomorrow, and cooler temperatures moving in for the rest of the week with a slight chance for precipitation Thursday and Friday.

At the Fish Passage Center, as of May 14, Bonneville Dam has had 118,738 adult Chinook cross and 3812 jack Chinook cross. The biggest day at Bonneville was May 9 when over 19035 Chinook (both adult and jack) crossed. At Lower Granite Dam 2957 adult Chinook have crossed and 138 jacks; the biggest day at Lower Granite was May 12 when 465 crossed.

Exodus Wilderness Adventures will offer a full day guided Chinook fishing trip by drift boat or jet boat at the rate of $205.00 per person. This trip includes lunch, snacks, hot/cold beverages and all fishing equipment. All trips will meet in our Riggins office at 5:00am and will typically return by 2:30pm; times are Mountain Time. Chinook Salmon regulations limit outfitters to fishing only six clients per day and all fishing is limited to the section of river from the Riggins City Park Boat Ramp down river to approximately 200 yards below the Hammer Creek Boat Ramp. The decision to open a season in the upriver section of the Salmon River between Vinegar Creek and Spring Bar (for power boats) or Island Bar (for drift boats) has not been made at this time.

The 2012 Chinook Salmon Season on the Clearwater, Snake, Lower Salmon and Little Salmon Rivers opened on April 22 and will close when the harvest quota is met. The daily limit is four fish; two adult (over 24”) and two jack (less than 24”); THE EXCEPTION:  The North Fork of the Clearwater River will only be allowed one adult.

To learn more about seasons, fly or spin fishing, and drift or jet boat trips: call us at 1-800-992-3484, email us at riverescape@frontier.com, or visit us online today.

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