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Steelhead Numbers Up; Highest Annual Returns in Last Seven Years, and Could Climb by Staff Idaho County Free Press, November 13, 2024

The reason counts are higher this year compared to the recent average
is due to the extremely low returns of steelhead from 2017-2023.

Very good news for anglers, according to Idaho Fish and Game (IFG). Idaho's annual steelhead returns through the month of October are the highest they've been in more than seven years ... and still counting.

At roughly 97,000 so far, this year's steelhead return over Lower Granite Dam marks the highest return since 2016, and Anadromous Fisheries Coordinator Chris Sullivan thinks the state could see this year's return surpass that mark.

"It is likely we will see more than 100,000 steelhead pass Lower Granite Dam in 2024," he said, "which would make this year's return the highest since 2015."

The fish start arriving late summer, and by fall, they are well distributed in Idaho rivers stretching from Lewiston, Riggins, Salmon, and Challis, and provide anglers a chance to catch them when they're fresh from the ocean.

Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River is the last of eight dams that steelhead cross prior to entering Idaho waters. IFG fisheries managers have not only seen higher than average counts at Lower Granite Dam this year, but also larger fish since many of the fish returning this year spent two years in the ocean.

"Over 80% of the steelhead that have crossed Lower Granite Dam this year have been fish that spent two years in the ocean. This should result in anglers catching bigger fish this fall and next spring," Sullivan said.

While this year's counts are encouraging, the returns still have to be taken with a grain of saltwater, according to IFG. The reason counts are higher this year compared to the recent average is due to the extremely low returns of steelhead from 2017–2023. But the spike is a welcome sign for anglers, as well as for threatened wild steelhead that are also returning in the largest numbers since 2015.