Fall steelhead season opens on Salmon, Little Salmon, Snake rivers

The fall steelhead harvest season opened Sunday on the Snake, Salmon and Little Salmon rivers.

The Snake River is open from the Washington state line at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers upstream to Hells Canyon Dam.

The Salmon River is open from its mouth upstream to the posted boundary 100 yards downstream of Sawtooth Hatchery.

The Little Salmon River is open from its mouth upstream to the U.S. 95 Bridge near Smokey Boulder road. The limits on these waters are three per day and nine in possession.

The harvest season already is open on a two-mile stretch of the lower Clearwater River from its mouth to the U.S. Highway 12 Memorial Bridge near Lewiston. The limits on the Clearwater are two per day and six in possession.

The rest of the Clearwater and the Middle Fork, North Fork and South Fork Clearwater rivers are open for catch-and-release only until Oct. 15, when the harvest season in those sections opens.

Anglers may keep 20 steelhead for the fall season, which ends Dec. 31. Only steelhead with a clipped adipose fin, evidenced by a healed scar, may be kept. Any steelhead that has an intact adipose fin must be released.