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C&R Steelhead Season Open on Clearwater by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, July 1, 2010

Today marks the official beginning of the 2010 steelhead season. Catch-and-release steelhead fishing opens annually on the Clearwater River July 1.

I'm not sure if any die hards are out there yet but good luck to them if they are. Through Wednesday, about 500 steelhead had crossed Lower Granite Dam. That is not very many.

It's unclear how many of the steelhead passing the dam will pull into the Clearwater River. The Snake River, measured near Heller Bar, averaged about 63 degrees Wednesday. The Clearwater at Spalding averaged about 59 degrees. Early returning steelhead typically pull into the Clearwater to cool off. But in most years the Snake is warmer than it is this year.

Fisheries managers are expecting another strong return of steelhead to the Columbia River basin. A preseason forecast calls for 337,500 A-run steelhead to return at least as far as Bonneville Dam and 99,100 B-run steelhead. Predictions for the return to Lower Granite Dam have not been made.

Let me know if you are fishing and catch one. It would be fun to document the first steelhead caught this year.