The Clearwater River Fisheries Working Group was tasked with providing recommendations to IDF&G that addressed both complaints from the angling community and mitigation of impacts on fish and angling opportunity due to overlaps of the fall chinook and steelhead fisheries. Here are the proposals and results.
Uncharted Territory
The Northwest is experiencing the worst summer steelhead returns on record. Steelhead stocks from British Columbia to southern Oregon and as far inland as the Snake River basin are doing poorly. Sadly, we are likely to see greater variability in run sizes, with smaller peaks and deeper troughs.
Idaho steelhead forecast: optimism or realism?
These days, good news in the wild steelhead arena is rare. Poor ocean survival, habitat degradation, hydro system mortality, a warming climate with associated increased water temperature — wild steelhead have a lot going against them.