KIMBERLY – Anglers have another week and a half to try their luck hooking a big Chinook salmon on a stretch of the John Day River near Kimberly.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the unusual fishery, which opened last Saturday and continues through Sunday, June 1.

The fishery was allowed because the Chinook returns over Bonneville Dam exceeded targets set for the upper mainstem, officials said.

The open area is from the Longview Ranch’s Johnson Creek Division bridge, about 200 feet upstream from the mouth of the North Fork John Day River, upstream 19.5 miles to the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek at the south end of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

The bag limit is two adult Chinooks and five jack salmon per day, and anglers must quit for the day if they get their two adult fish.

A Columbia River Endorsement and a combined angling tag are required, and anglers must release any steelhead or bull trout caught during the fishery.

ODFW is staffing a check-in station near Picture Gorge to collect data and provide angler information.

Neal said the numbers of Chinook returning from the ocean reflects the conditions when the young fish were spawned. This year’s return is strong because 2011 was a good water year, giving the fish a good first year of growth.