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Steelhead Season Begins to Warm Up by Jerry Painter Post Register, February 17, 2021

As the late winter and early spring steelhead season begins to warm up, Idaho Fish and Game is reminding anglers of a reduced bag limit this season.

The ocean-going steelhead have been biding their time during the early winter in the deep headwater areas of the Snake River and lower Clearwater and Salmon rivers. The steelhead are beginning to move, and anglers are showing up in hopes of landing one of the state's most prized fish.

"The fishing is starting to ramp in some of Idaho's popular terminal waters," said Joe Dupont, Clearwater Region fisheries manager in a news release. "The South Fork Clearwater River is just starting to turn on, and upstream of the Orofino Bridge on the mainstem Clearwater River is already fishing well. Fish are also moving into the areas near the Dworshak and Hells Canyon hatcheries, as well as the Little Salmon River, and catch rates should be picking up there soon."

Harvest reports show that dozens of steelhead are being caught on the Clearwater River and South Fork Clearwater River.

Closer to eastern Idaho, the Salmon River fishing is waiting on an annual winter event.

In the upper Salmon River, the Deadwater ice jam was still in place on Feb. 16, and Salmon Region Fisheries Manager Greg Schoby said he expects it will be early March at the earliest before it breaks up and spring steelhead season begins in earnest in the Salmon region, according to a Fish and Game report.

"Typically it takes a day or two following the breakup for the river to clear up downstream of Deadwater, and after that we start to see a significant increase in the number of anglers," said Brent Beller, Fish and Game fisheries biologist in Salmon. "We are expecting a good spring fishery on the upper Salmon River for this year. While numbers are still low, we do have more hatchery steelhead returning to the Sawtooth and Pahsimeroi hatcheries than we have had during the previous two return years, and this is reflected in our daily bag limit increasing from one steelhead per day ... to two steelhead per day in fall 2020 and spring 2021."

Fish and Game checked eight anglers on the Snake River between Hells Canyon Dam and the Salmon River. In 30 hours of fishing, one fish was caught.

In the Orofino area, 283 anglers were checked between the mouth of the Clearwater River and upstream from the Orofino Bridge with 108 fish caught.

Fish and Game advises anglers to follow catch rates on its harvest reports web page (idfg.idaho.gov/fish/steelhead/harvest) to help them track where and when the fish are moving.

"The key thing I always remind anglers to look at are the catch rates," Dupont said. "When you see catch rates at under 10 hours per fish, we call that good. When it's five hours a fish, that's excellent."

Last fall, the Fish and Game Commission extended the reduced bag and possession limits from the previous season to this year's season. The season began Jan. 1. Statewide, the daily bag limits are two steelhead daily and six in possession. Anglers can only keep hatchery fish.

"Continuing the bag limit reduction in the Snake, Salmon and Little Salmon rivers will allow hatcheries to meet their broodstock needs, while still allowing a sport fishery in the spring," Fish and Game said. "In the Clearwater River, where steelhead return is closer to the 10-year average, the two fish daily bag limit is designed to ensure the sport fishery does not exceed its share of hatchery fish."

The Army Corps of Engineers counted 54,855 steelhead passing over the Lower Granite Dam – the last dam on the Snake River heading upstream — this past November. That's less than the five-year average of 73,092, but more than last year's total of 30,973. The numbers are a combination of wild and hatchery fish.

Related Pages:
Steelhead Closure Extended In Eastern Oregon by Staff, KXI, 12/26/19
Steelhead Closure Extended on Columbia River by Staff, The Astorian, 12/23/19
Limited Steelhead Season Approved by Eric Barker, Moscow-Pulmman Daily News, 12/19/19