More Steelhead Coming to the Boise River

A third and final group of more than 300 steelhead will be stocked in the Boise River Tuesday, November 20, between the Glenwood Bridge and Barber Park. The first group of fish was stocked November 8 and a second group November 15. The three deliveries total about 1,000 steelhead stocked in the Boise River this fall. Anglers hoping to catch one of these four- to 10-pound beauties will need a 2007 fishing license and a $12.75 steelhead permit, or a $31.50 3-day nonresident steelhead permit. Steelhead fishing in the Boise River on a 3-day nonresident permit could be a way to entertain out-of-state guests during the holidays. Barbless hooks are not required for Boise River steelhead angling. All steelhead stocked in the Boise River will lack an adipose fin - the small fin normally found immediately behind the dorsal fin. Anglers who catch a rainbow trout longer than 20 inches without an adipose fin should consider the fish a steelhead. Boise River anglers with a valid permit may take three steelhead per day and have nine in possession. Any steelhead taken in the Boise River will count as part of the angler's fall season limit of 20 fish. Anglers without a steelhead permit must immediately release any steelhead caught. The fish are A-run hatchery steelhead, returning to the Idaho Power Co.'s Oxbow Hatchery fish trap - operated by Fish and Game - on the Snake River at the base of Hells Canyon Dam. Eggs from the trapped fish are raised at the Niagara Springs Hatchery. Many of the returning steelhead trapped and spawned at the Oxbow Hatchery will become part of the ongoing steelhead hatchery program as mitigation for the effects on salmon and steelhead of Idaho Power's Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams. For more information about the Boise River steelhead release, contact the Fish and Game Nampa office at 208-465-8465 or check the department's web site at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.