Fishermen Face New Regulations

Idaho steelhead fishermen are facing new regulations on the Snake and Clearwater rivers aimed at protecting scarce B-run steelhead. But the endangered fall-run chinook salmon is in even worse shape.

Fall-run chinook salmon return to Idaho waters from the Pacific Ocean about the same time as steelhead. Steelhead anglers need to know how to distinguish between the fish.

The easiest way to distinguish a steelhead from a chinook salmon is by checking the lower gumline. If the lower gum is white or light colored, it is a steelhead. If the lower gun is black, it is a chinook. Dark spots on the tail are blotchy and irregular on chinook and rounded on steelhead.

By November, most fall chinook are so dark in color that the spots have become obscured. Fall chinook spawn in November in the lower mainstem Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers. Most have spawned and disappeared from the rivers by the end of the year.