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Since Kali was doing a workshop at Coeur d'Alene this week, decided to drag the boat up for some salmon fishing on Coeur d'Alene Lake for landlocked Chinook, and also the confluence in Lewiston. Well, the Lake CDA fishing sucked, not so much as a bite. No other boats were doing anything. Got up early this AM and drove to Lewiston to try and snag a springer. Talked to the young F & G officer at the ramp, and she told me to not bother. Hadn't seen a single fish yet. At that time a boat pulled in that had been fishing by the railroad bridge (along with a gazillion other boats) and said they had been there since daybreak, and only saw one fish hooked. So, we hit the road and decided to come back when they want to play. Mike
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Theres over 2000 clearwater bound fish over LG so it should start picking up. Selway has a good showing of tags over LG so prob going to see a good number of unclipped fish in the catch.
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you should have launched. i fished the confluence yesterday and saw over 20 fish hooked.
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Hope one of those 20 were on then end of your gear, Chrome. You're probably right, Sturgeonator, time to fish for kokanee. Heck, what's the difference between kokes and the Chinook up there? Wait, about 19 pounds!! Might have to head back up there! Mike
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Chrome and I are having a helleva time getting hooked up. It is actually really funny because we are some die hards and usually hammer fish. Nothing you can do, but laugh about it. Chrome see you on the river!!!
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Clearwater has been running a little muddy but looks like it has cleared up some the last few days. With that and the LWG numbers, I'm guessing this weekend could be a blast. Plus, the upcoming week weather looks like it could have me out there in shorts and a t-shirt!
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yeah buddy!!!!! I'll be out all week!!!! we are going to get them this week. weather looks stellar. fish are there. i'ts officially game time.
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I dont know if anyone saw but the FPC reported 7400 adult chinook over lower granite yesterday! Fish on!
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So has anybody been doing any catching up there? Heard they're there but no body has said much about landing fish?
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I was up fishing the confluence the 9th - 11th. We landed 6 fish all keepers brought home over 80 lbs of the best meat I have ever cut.
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Here are some photos from last weekend fishing the confluence on the lower clearwater. Just some heads up, hear the lower clearwater is closing tomorrow night the 16th. So fishing will only be allowed above Cherry Lane bridge.
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Wow! you obviously had 'em dialed in. Congrats. Mike
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Wow nice fish , thanks for sharing the report and great pictures .
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They have already hammered the fish that hard on the Clearwater to close it? Is this a sign of a quick season at all of the fisheries?
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Looks like you were fishing about a half mile above the memorial bridge mostly on the north side. I had heard that was one of the better spots over the weekend. Good on ya.
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To shed some light on the river being closed tomorrow. The reason fish and game is closing the lower Clearwater so early this year is because they went with a new approach to the season. They broke up the quota of CW basin fish and distributed it through out the sections based on the harvest rates of previous season. The higher the harvest rate the lower the quota. This is why big eddy was never opened and the confluence is being shutdown so early. This is an atempt by F&G to not have a repeat of last season where at least 90% of last years quota was caught in a four day period on the lower Clearwater. This was a huge problem for them as the upper river guys never even got to see a pitch. This is an attempt to lengthen the season and give everybody a shot at getting a fish.
For a change I agree with them. Let's face it. We all know there is not enough fish to go around. Even on years like this where we have a pretty good run.
They are going to drag this season out as long as they can. The upper river communities such as kamiah and kooskia depend on the little economic boost these fish supply and last year they got hosed. It won't surprise me if cherry lane to orifino bridge will be shutdown in two weeks. That being said, my opinion is if you had a crack at the fish and your complaining about getting shutdown make the trek up river and stimulate these small towns business's. It's worth the drive. I chase them all over every year and every body and section of rivers is unique and offers different unforgettable experiances.
So make the trek or let other people have a swing at what you already had a chance at.
Honestly I wish we fishermen and women were more worried about what's happening to our fish before they even get to Idaho. Instead of "oh no I didn't catch enough." The fact that the lower Columbia was opened again just further asserts that neither state has any regard for a resource that they had no part in creating or managing. It's time to involve senators and legal council. Sadly I fear the fishing community has grown lazy and spineless. Every time the subject ever gets brought up there's always the group that says "what's the point nothing will ever be done about it." That is a huge reason right there why nothing gets done about it. We have voices, endless networks of social media and email. People will notice and the situation can be addressed.
Sorry about my rant.
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Nice post Chrome. You definitely have to be agile if you want to fish Springers on the Clearwater. It's a bummer to be the last stop on Chinook run bus, cuz all the good seats are taken. That is just the world we live in right now. It would be great to see the PNW states working together to manage this fishery.
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position up here in the Clearwater, but I think the F&G are doing the right thing. Splitting up the river into different quotas will ultimately help spread out the harvest share and help more people catch fish throughout the system. I think the harvest share should be adjusted though as the run progresses, considering we are pretty much at par with the 2011 run, where we had 2 fish limits into the middle of June. I think F&G are just a little scared after 2013.