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Steelhead Closures Expand by Ralph Bartholdt Coeur d'Alene Press, September 19, 2019

Poor steelhead runs in Washington and Idaho have prompted fisheries departments on both sides of the Snake River to wind down their seasons beginning this weekend.

That means anyone who wants to catch a steelhead this fall around Lewiston or Clarkston must travel to an area around the Grand Ronde River, where a one hatchery-fish limit is in effect.

New rules for the Snake River were announced this week, spurred by dismal returns of the sought-after sea-run fish.

Beginning at midnight Sunday, Washington Snake River steelhead anglers will no longer be allowed to catch steelhead below the Couse Creek boat ramp, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Thursday. But anglers are allowed to catch steelhead upstream of the boat ramp to the Oregon border.

At least for a while.

The daily limit of one clipped adipose-fin steelhead is in effect above the boat ramp and will run through Dec. 31.

But the dismal fish numbers could prompt WDFW to once again tweak the regulations, WDFW biologist Jeremy Trump said.

"More than likely, we'll have another rule change around the end of December," Trump said. "I doubt we'll go back to a three-fish limit."

Last week, state, tribal and federal fisheries managers in the Columbia River Basin dramatically slashed their forecasts for the big B-run steelhead that return largely to the Clearwater Basin.

Agencies are concerned that only about 2,500 B-run steelhead, including 1,300 wild fish, will return to Bonneville Dam. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game predicts about 1,700 hatchery B-run steelhead, which spend two years in the ocean before returning to spawning areas above Lower Granite Dam.

That is fewer fish than is required to meet spawning goals at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery at Ahsahka. They expect about 900 wild B-run steelhead that have spent two-years in the ocean to return at least as far as Lower Granite Dam.

The Washington closures, which include the Snake River from its mouth at the Burbank to Pasco railroad bridge all the way to the Couse Creek boat ramp south of Asotin, come a week after Idaho Fish and Game closed the Clearwater River to steelhead fishing. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted a week ago to close all fall steelhead seasons on the Clearwater beginning Sunday at midnight. That means waters upstream to the confluence of the Middle Fork and South Fork, as well as the North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork tributaries, are closed to steelhead fishing this fall.

Both states had already adopted regulations requiring anglers to release all steelhead longer than 28 inches caught in those river stretches

The Idaho section of the Snake River downstream from the Couse Creek boat ramp to the Idaho and Washington state line will also be closed to protect Clearwater-bound steelhead, Fish and Game said.

To prevent incidental catch of steelhead, WDFW adjusted its fall chinook fishery to include an Oct. 13 closure on the Snake River from Clarkston to Couse Creek. Anglers can keep up to six adult chinook, including one non-adipose clipped fish. The area from the Couse Creek ramp to the Oregon border will remain open until Oct. 31 and anglers there are also allowed to catch and keep six adult fish, including one non-adipose fin clipped fish. Anglers can also target chinook until Oct. 31 in the area immediately around the Lyons Ferry hatchery where a six-fish limit is in effect.

Related Pages:
Poor Steelhead Returns will Likely Impact Small Towns that Bank on Anglers by Eric Barker, Coeur d'Alene Press, 9/6/18
The Grim Outlook for Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead by Yancy Lind, Lewiston Tribune, 9/18/19
With A-Run Steelhead Not Living Up to Predictions, Fish Managers Downgrade Forecast by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 8/31/19