Idaho F&G stops all steelhead fishing in Clearwater River basin

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) Commission voted Friday morning to close all steelhead seasons in the Clearwater River basin.

This includes the Clearwater River upstream to the confluence of the Middle Fork and South Fork, along with the North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork tributaries.

Biologists have tracked Clearwater-bound hatchery steelhead returns and the number continues to drop.

The number of returning adult hatchery fish is less than the number needed for broodstock, and there is no surplus to provide a fishery.

Fishers can't target steelhead or salmon and anglers will not be allowed to fish for steelhead in the Clearwater River drainage.

"Not even catch-and-release," said IDFG

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

The closure in the Clearwater River drainage is consistent with harvest restrictions put in place in fisheries on the mainstem Columbia River by the Oregon and Washington Fish and Wildlife Departments.

Through Sept. 18, biologists estimate about 1,158 hatchery steelhead destined for the Clearwater River have passed Bonneville Dam based on PIT tags.

The small, electronic tags are embedded in fish and help biologists know which river migrating steelhead are destined for. On average, about 50 percent of the hatchery steelhead returning to the Clearwater River would have passed Bonneville Dam by Sept. 18, according to IDFG.

“Based on average run timing, we estimate that this will result in approximately 2,300 fish crossing Bonneville Dam by the end of the season,” said Lance Hebdon, anadromous fishery manager for IDFG. “The result for Idaho anglers is that only 1,700 hatchery steelhead destined for the Clearwater River will make it to Lower Granite Dam by the end of the season.”

In order to meet broodstock needs for Clearwater River hatcheries (a total of 1,352 fish), 100 percent of the steelhead destined for the North Fork Clearwater River, and a high percentage of the fish destined for the South Fork Clearwater River would have to be collected, leaving no surplus fish for harvest, according to IDFG.

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