New Steelhead Season in Idaho starts with Best Run in Years

LEWISTON, ID - January first is not only the start of a new year, it's also opening day for a new steelhead season in Idaho.

With the new season, fishermen are reminded they need to buy a new license and a new steelhead tag.

This is different from Washington, where fishermen buy their licenses in the spring.

With the new season in Idaho, the limits are raised to three per-day and nine in possession. And there is good news for anglers, this is expected to be an excellent run.

"In fact, if you look at counts over Lower Granite Dam, we have about 20,000 steelhead destined for the Clearwater and if you want to compare that to previous years, last year we only had 8,000 at the same time," said Joe Dupont with the Idaho Fish and Game. "So quite a difference and two years ago we had 13,000 so it's a very good year when compared to the past few years." 

Another reminder for steelhead fishermen is that you can only use barbless hooks and may only keep hatchery steelhead marked with a clipped adipose fin. All other steelhead must

be released