Beginning Monday, October 15, angling for fall chinook salmon in Hunter Creek is closed for the remainder of the season which ends December 31. This emergency regulation was triggered by 2013 Rogue Fall Chinook Conservation Plan measures to protect this small population of fall chinook. The plan calls for a minimum of 300 fall chinook migrating upstream; however, ODFW biologists forecast just 234 chinook returning this year. “Hunter Creek has a small population of fall chinook, and the past few years it has been impacted by poor ocean conditions. Although the population is small, it’s a mature stock of four and five-year-old fish that we need to conserve,” said Steve Mazur, Gold Beach District fish biologist. Mazur reminds anglers the regular steelhead angling season opens January 1 in Hunter Creek.
