Tuesday October 20, 2026
The Lewiston Tribune —
Reacting to the lowest steelhead return on record, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will shut down all harvest of the powerful sea-run trout in the Clearwater River and its tributaries Thursday.
The river that transects north central Idaho will remain open to catch-and-release fishing. Harvest seasons on the Snake, Salmon and Little Salmon rivers will continue.
Regional Fisheries Manager Joe Thiessen said the state is quickly approaching its quota of hatchery steelhead on the Clearwater, estimated at about 1,625 fish and known as a harvest share. Shutting down harvest now will leave enough of the quota intact to allow for incidental mortality associated with catch-and-release fishing.
“This seems like the best bet to continue to fish throughout the course of the season and get us to the spring,” said Thiessen, who added that harvest is unlikely to open for the spring season that starts in January.