Anglers could be in for a fantastic salmon fishing year if paper projections are realized later this spring with the fish coming over Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, Idaho Fish and Game Regional Fisheries Biologist Dale Allen said.
Allen gave local anglers an update on local salmon seasons and perch in Lake Cascade at a recent F&G Sportsman's Breakfast held at the Super 8 Motel in McCall.
F&G will hold a meeting on preseason salmon planning Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the F&G office at 555 E. Deinhard Lane in McCall.
Fisheries managers will propose seasons to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission in early April.
Forecasts say Chinook salmon returning to the Rapid River Hatchery near Riggins are expected to be about 22,000 fish, which means anglers may be allowed to keep 9,000 Chinook from the spring run, Allen said.
The season takes in the Salmon River below Riggins and the Little Salmon River to its confluence with Rapid River south of Riggins.
The forecast is based on the number of jacks, which are premature male salmon, which returned to Idaho in 2007.
Last year, 5,000 jacks made it back to the Rapid River Hatchery.
"It is the best indicator of a run strength next year," Allen said.
If anglers are allowed to keep 9,000 salmon from the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers this year, it would be an "almost record" year, he said.
The number would be close to the record year in 2001, when anglers were allowed to keep more than 9,000 salmon from the fishery.
S.F. Season Uncertain
The summer Chinook season also looks promising on paper, Allen said.
The summer season on the South Fork of the Salmon River east of McCall is projected to allow anglers to keep up to 2,400 salmon. Last year, anglers kept about 500 salmon.
in the air due to forest fires that burned over most of the area anglers are allowed to fish for salmon on the South Fork.
If the forecast numbers hold up, this salmon season would compare to the 2004 salmon season on the South Fork.
Efforts to restore the perch fishery on Lake Cascade have been largely successful, Allen said.
The department embarked on a plan to restore the fishery that once meant $20 million for the local economy in its heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Fisheries managers have worked to eradicate adult northern Pike minnows, or squawfish, that had virtually eliminated all perch in the lake in the late 1990s.
Adult squawfish numbers are now only a quarter of their numbers.
Allen believes that in a year or two, fisheries managers can eliminate the adult population from preying on perch.
