Idaho's Steelhead Fishery Update: Oct. 25, 2023

Hi everybody. It has been almost two months since my last steelhead update, so I figured it was time to give you all another update. Plus, now that the steelhead return over Bonneville Dam is complete, I can say with confidence what the returns to different areas are like.

Steelhead Returns to the Upper Salmon, Little Salmon, and Snake Rivers

To help portray how this year’s return compares to past years, I have put together the figure below. This figure shows how many Idaho hatchery steelhead (based on PIT tags) have passed over Bonneville Dam this year (2023) that are bound for the upper Salmon, Little Salmon, and Snake rivers in comparison to the previous 13 years. The good news is the return of steelhead to these three combined areas (27,601) is the best we have seen since 2016. Just over 18,000 of these fish will be returning to the upper Salmon River basin, 5,000 to the Little Salmon River, and about 4,500 to the Snake River. Despite the improvement in this return, they are a long ways from what we observed prior to 2016. 

One of the things we evaluate with these returns is how many of these steelhead are destined for traps where we can collect them for broodstock. If not enough fish are returning to these places to meet broodstock goals, then we will need to make our regulations more restrictive. I put together the figure below that compares how many fish have passed over Bonneville Dam (based on PIT tags) that are destined for traps in the Snake and Salmon rivers this year (2023) to previous years. 

The blue portion of the bars show the number of steelhead that spent one year in the ocean and the yellow portion shows how many spent two or three years in the ocean. Those bars with text above them were the years when we applied more restrictive regulations to ensure that we would meet broodstock needs. Now that we have had more experience managing these fisheries with smaller returns, we recognize that we were probably overly restrictive during some of the years. Limit restrictions probably aren’t necessary when over 12,000 fish destined for our traps pass over Bonneville Dam. 

With over 21,000 of these steelhead passing over Bonneville Dam this year, we are not worried about collecting the broodstock we need. That means these fisheries will be able to continue with our normal regulations (3-fish daily limit). For more details on the steelhead regulations please refer to this link.

Right now (Oct. 25), steelhead are spread out from the Idaho/Washington border upstream to Hells Canyon Dam and the upper Salmon River. Fish passage over Lower Granite Dam is declining and movement will likely slow to a trickle come late November. Catch rates have not been great (typically >15 hrs/fish) to date although they are gradually picking up. We observed the best catch rates of the year last week with catch rates at 10-14/hrs fish in the Snake, and 15-25 hrs/fish in the Salmon. I suspect this colder and wetter climate we are experiencing right now will result in better catch rates in the near future.

Steelhead Returns to the Clearwater River Basin

Hatchery steelhead returning to the Clearwater River basin this year have been a pleasant surprise. We were forecasting that about 8,400 2-ocean steelhead would pass over Bonneville Dam this year, but instead, we observed closer to 16,000 of these fish (based on PIT tags). When you combine all ages of steelhead that have passed over Bonneville Dam this year, they total over 21,000 fish (see figure below). 

In my previous steelhead update (8/30/2023), I indicated the models were projecting that we could see up to 35,000 steelhead pass over Bonneville Dam. You may recall that I was skeptical of this projection as all indications were this steelhead return was one of the earliest we had ever seen. It turns out this return is the earliest we have ever seen since we have started tracking returns using PIT tags (since 2010) and explains why this projection was on the high side. Regardless, the 21,000 steelhead returning this year is about average when compared to the previous 13 years and should provide some good fishing opportunities without the need to adjust seasons or limits. 

One thing I want to point out in the figure above is that almost 5,000 1-ocean steelhead that are destined for the Clearwater River basin have passed over Bonneville Dam this year (see yellow portion of bar for 2023). That ties for the second most we have seen since 2010. Typically, when the 1-ocean return is good one year, the following year’s 2-ocean’s return will be good. That could mean good things for next year’s Clearwater return. 

Also, if you look at the figure above, you should notice that we have been seeing an up and down pattern with the number of fish that have returned from one year to the next since 2012. Next year we are scheduled for an up year! Additionally, since 2018, the succeeding “up year” has increased. If that trend continues, next year could be amazing. Here’s to hoping!

Steelhead fishing in the Clearwater River has been variable this fall with the better catch rates occurring around Lewiston and Dworshak Hatchery. More of the fish destined for the South Fork Clearwater are starting to move into this fishery, and these fish tend to spread out more than the fish destined for Dworshak Hatchery. Hopefully this will result in more consistent fishing throughout the Clearwater River. As I mentioned in the Snake and Salmon section, this cooler and wetter weather should improve fishing throughout the Clearwater River basin.

Good luck fishing!