idfg-cliess Friday, November 1, 2024 – 10:54 AM MDT
If you’ve been waiting for some of the best news of the year for anglers, hold on to your fishing rods. Idaho’s annual steelhead returns through the month of October are the highest they’ve been in over 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 we 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, 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. Fish and Game 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.