Steelhead Stocked in the Boise River

Anglers lined the Boise River near the Parkcenter Boulevard bridge, shoulder to shoulder, in anticipation as Idaho Fish and Game released another 300 steelhead into the Boise River Thursday afternoon, November 13. Fish and Game managers plan to release another 300 in the river Thursday, November 20, from the Glenwood Bridge to Barber Park. Steelhead are returning to the Oxbow Hatchery as forecast, and Idaho Fish and Game managers released the first 300 into the river on Thursday, November 6. Trapping at Oxbow began Monday, October 27. Besides a 2008 fishing license, anglers hoping to tangle with one of the 4- to 10-pound hatchery steelhead need a $12.75 steelhead permit. 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 between the dorsal fin and the tail. Boise River anglers catching a rainbow trout longer than 20 inches that lacks an adipose fin should consider it a steelhead. Any angler without a steelhead permit who catches a steelhead must immediately return it to the water. Anglers may take three steelhead on the Boise River per day; they may have nine in possession and 20 for the fall season. The fish are A-run hatchery steelhead, returning to the Idaho Power Co.'s Oxbow Hatchery fish trap below Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River. Many of the returning steelhead will be used as broodstock for the ongoing steelhead hatchery program at Oxbow Hatchery as part of Idaho Power Co.'s mitigation program. "We're confident that this year's hatchery steelhead run will easily allow Oxbow Hatchery personnel to fill broodstock needs," Fish and Game anadromous fish coordinator Sam Sharr said. "Any additional hatchery fish returning to the fish trap will be divided equally among Idaho Fish and Game, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife." For information about the steelhead release, contact the Fish and Game Nampa office at 208-465-8465.