The 2010 Chinook salmon fishing season opens Saturday, April 24 on the Clearwater, Snake, Little Salmon and the lower Salmon Rivers.

Chinook fishing also will open May 23 on the Lochsa River, and June 19 in the lower Salmon River from Short's Creek upstream to Vinegar Creek. In addition, this year Fish and Game will open a new section of the lower Salmon River from Rice Creek to Hammer Creek to salmon fishing during the same time as the other sections of the lower Salmon.

Chinook salmon fisheries in the South Fork Salmon River and upper Salmon River will be set by the Fish and Game Commission at a later date.

The fishing is great in Idaho, and people are catching on; more people are fishing now than anytime in the past decade.

In 2009, Idaho Fish and Game sold 473,576 fishing licenses, the most since 1999. More good news, sales through March 2010 are well above the same time in 2009. Resident fishing license sales are up 19 percent; resident junior licenses are up 27 percent; resident disabled licenses are up 36 percent; two-pole permit sales are up 5 percent; nonresident licenses are up 7 percent; three-day salmon and steelhead permits are up 33 percent; and steelhead permits are up 15 percent.

The Idaho big game hunting seasons and rules brochures for 2010 seasons are back from the printer. The printed rules brochure is being shipped out and will be available at license vendors and Fish and Game offices statewide. It is also available on the Fish and Game Website at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/.

The application period for this fall's deer, elk, pronghorn and black bear controlled hunts starts May 1 and runs through June 5.

The 2009 harvest statistics and drawing odds for controlled hunts are now available on the Idaho Fish and Game Website at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov and in the Hunt Planner. Hunters can use harvest statistics and drawing odds from the past 10 years to search for similar controlled hunts for this year.

Hunters may apply for controlled hunts at any hunting and fishing license vendor, Fish and Game office; with a credit card by calling 1-800-55HUNT5; or online at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov. An additional fee is charged for telephone and Internet applications.

This year, the annual Idaho Fish and Game Hide and Fur Auction will be on May 1 at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds at 4056 N. Government Way, Coeur dAlene.

Items may be viewed beginning at 10 a.m., and the auction will begin at noon Pacific Time. The office is at 2885 Kathleen Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

In the spring of 2009, more than 50 conservation-minded anglers, many from the Idaho Bass Federation Nation, gathered at CJ Strike Reservoir for a day of fishing for crappie conservation.

During the effort, more than 2,000 pre-spawn adult crappie were caught, loaded in a hatchery truck, transported to Lake Lowell and released. Monitoring late last summer indicated that these crappie spawned successfully in the lake and may have been one of the shots in the arm this reservoir needed.

Encouraged by the success of last year's event, Fish and Game is asking for that same dedicated effort again this year during the crappie for conservation event at CJ Strike on Saturday, May 1. For more information, contact Fish and Game's southwest region office at 208-465-8465.

Idaho's first regulated wolf season is closed.

Hunters took 188 wolves. The harvest limit was 220.

Idaho Fish and Game set wolf harvest limits for each of 12 management zones. Seven zones closed when the limit for that was reached. The season closed statewide Wednesday, March 31.

Idaho Fish and Game sold a total of 31,400 wolf tags - 30,619 resident and 781 nonresident tags - for the seven-month season that ran from September 1, 2009, in some zones to March 31, 2010.

Finish Form 1040 or head out for the start of spring turkey hunting? Tough decision.

Those who have done the right thing and finished with taxes before the deadline can expect to find Idaho's wild turkey populations in good shape. Idaho is home to more than 30,000 turkeys, mostly of the Merriam subspecies.

The general season youth turkey hunt runs Thursday April 8 through Wednesday April 14. Youths 15 years or younger on April 8, may participate in the youth hunt. All youth hunters must have a valid 2010 Idaho hunting license.

The general spring turkey hunts open April 15 and runs through May 25. Dates vary for controlled hunts, listed in the brochure.

Check out our new Fly Fishing Reports and Website at: Idaho flyfisher.com