Steelhead Trout

In 2007, Fish and Game began operating picket weirs and traps on multiple tributaries of the Salmon River to document the number of steelhead that enter certain tributaries to spawn. Fish and Game gathers information such as length, weight, sex, origin, and other data on the fish before releasing it upstream to spawn. The information collected is then used to evaluate ongoing habitat restoration projects and guide future management decisions.

The Idaho fish marking program started in 1975 with a small group of people directed to tag salmon and steelhead raised in Idaho’s hatcheries by inserting a tiny pieces of wire, known as coded-wire tags, into the snouts of over one million salmon and steelhead. Now Idaho’s fish marking program clips and tags approximately 11 million juvenile salmon and steelhead each year.

As steelhead fishing begins to wrap up for this spring, we wanted to provide an update on the University of Idaho steelhead catch-and-release study. Like many things, the study has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tagging that was occurring at Lower Granite Dam had to end sooner than planned, but fortunately we did tag an additional 43 fish this spring.

In late February, Idaho Fish and Game collects young juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead on the Snake River to monitor fish movement and survival.