Salmon Season to be opened inland per FGC, Central Valley Sportfishing breakdown
BACKGROUND INFO: At its February 2025 meeting, the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) authorized publication of notice of its intent to amend sport fishing regulations on the American, Feather, Mokelumne and Sacramento rivers (collectively referred to as Central Valley rivers). For the FGC 2025 Meeting Schedule and Documents you can download, click here.
As part of the annual process, specific bag, possession, and size limits for Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon (SRFC) are scheduled for adoption by the Commission after the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) reviews the status of West Coast salmon stocks and recommends fishery allocations.
At the Commission’s April 2025 meeting, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) provided an update on the results of the PFMC process and recommended that the Commission close the Central Valley Chinook salmon fishery, with the exception of some limited take in the American, Feather and Mokelumne Rivers within shortened seasons. The Commission also authorized a 15-day notice of changes to the proposed regulatory language to clarify that there are separate seasons for Chinook salmon and hatchery trout/hatchery steelhead, and to create a new subsection of the Feather River.
• To watch or rewatch the FGC meetings on Cal-Span, Click Here.
• Latest Press Release from CDFW, CLICK HERE
At its May 14 meeting in Sacramento, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously adopted sport fishing regulations for the 2025 season, opening limited Chinook salmon fishing on sections of the Mokelumne, Feather and American rivers, within adjusted seasons and a daily bag limit of one fish. The Sacramento River and Klamath River Basin and its tributaries will remain closed to protect those stocks.
The Commission was scheduled to determine whether to adopt the noticed regulatory amendments and, if so, to select one of the options within the noticed ranges at their May 15th meeting.
The regulations are expected to take effect on July 1, 2025, for the Klamath River Basin and July 15, 2025, for the sections of the Mokelumne, Feather and American rivers.
Download Meeting Documents
To download all the documents from this meeting click here. Scroll toward the end of the document to find maps and sections of the river.
For questions about the CDFW presentation by Colby Hause to the FGC regarding her recommendations, Fisheries@wildlife.ca.gov
Colby Hause is part of the Chinook Salmon Sport Fish Coordinator Fisheries Branch
CHINOOK SALMON OPEN FISHING SEASONS
The current open fishing seasons for SRFC in the Central Valley are specific to each river and river section and have start and end dates that encompass the migration periods for salmon to upstream spawning habitat in the American, Feather, Sacramento, and Mokelumne rivers. In recent years, low rivers flows, caused by low precipitation, and/or low salmon abundance estimates have forced the Department to close salmon fishing to protect all salmon populations in the Central Valley. Low river flows can cause adult salmon to delay their upstream migration to spawning habitat and prevent access for salmon to their natal streams. In some years, a complete fishing closure is necessary to minimize fishery impacts during stressful environmental conditions, such as low flows, and low adult returns. In other years, however, a shortened fishing season may be enough to protect salmon populations in the Central Valley. To avoid a complete fishing closure when feasible, the Department needs the flexibility to annually adjust the SRFC fishing season lengths on the American, Feather, Mokelumne, and Sacramento rivers.
To address this, the Department is proposing to change fishing seasons from a static, uniform date range to a range of dates encompassed within the historical open fishing season window (e.g., July 16 through Dec 31) specific to each river section. As done with bag and possession limits, the Department will recommend river section-specific seasons based on salmon abundance estimates and recommendations for ocean harvest for the coming season determined by PFMC at its April 2025 meeting. Having this flexibility will allow the Department to provide fishing opportunity while still protecting salmon populations.
