McCall Fish Hatchery
CLICK on the overlook photograph of the McCall Hatchery, and take a virtual tour of the facility:
1. Visitor's Center
2. Picnic Area
3. Office
4. Private Residences
5. Water Supply
6. Indoor Hatchery Building
7. Outdoor Raceways
8. Collection Basin
9. Settling Ponds

McCall Fish Hatchery is located within the city limits of McCall, approximately 1/4-mile downstream of Payette Lake, adjacent to the North Fork of the Payette River. This facility was renovated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1979. It's primary objective is to produce one million summer chinook salmon smolts annually.

Anadromous funding is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Facility secondary objectives pertain to resident programs. The resident programs include redistribution of 55,000 catchable rainbow trout to the local waters and stocking of up to 250 high mountain lakes annually. Funding for the resident fisheries program (April 1 to September 30) is provided from IDFG license sales revenue.

Payette Lake provides all of McCall Fish Hatchery water requirements. Two water intakes are available, which provide limited water temperature control through mixing. The surface intake is located at Lardo Dam at the outlet of Payette Lake. The subsurface intake is located approximately 1/4-mile into the lake at a depth of 50 feet. A 2-foot diameter constriction in the 3-foot diameter mainline limits maximum flow capacity to 20 cubic feet per second (cfs).

McCall Fish Hatchery is located within the city limits of McCall, approximately 1/4-mile downstream of Payette Lake, adjacent to the North Fork of the Payette River. Click here to look at a road map of the area.

This facility was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1970s, in response to the 1976 federal Water Resources Development Act - specifically the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan.

With 1980 as its first operating year, the hatchery was the only one dedicated to rehabilitation of Idaho's depleted summer chinook salmon runs. Only 150 adults were trapped the first year. From these 124,000 summer chinook smolts were spawned, reared and released by the hatchery. In 1987, 2,321 adults returned to the hatchery's South Fork Trap.

Today, an average of one million smolts are released each year from the hatchery, thus meeting the facilities charter operating goals.

Anadromous funding is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Facility secondary objectives pertain to resident programs.

The resident programs include redistribution of 55,000 catchable rainbow trout to the local waters and stocking of up to 250 high mountain lakes annually.

Funding for the resident fisheries program (April 1 to September 30) is provided from Fish & Game license sales revenue.

McCall Fish Hatchery
Box 1021
McCall, ID 83638
(208) 634-2690


Written and compiled by Jacqueline Harvey 1999.
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