Steelhead fishery to reopen in Grant County after two years
By Logan Bagett on Friday, August 25th, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY – ODFW John Day District Fish Biologist Steph Charette was on KJDY’s Coffee Time with some exciting news for steelhead anglers. Charette said for the first time in two years, this fall the agency will be able to open up the steelhead fishery locally on the John Day River:
“We’re currently a little over 26,000 wild fish over Boneville [Dam]. That’s our minimum threshold to have a fishery, but, because it is our minimum, we are concerned a little bit about…how much will this affect fish.
So, we’re going to have some “Creelers” out there, so expect that. We’re planning on hiring one to two people, as well as local staff, to go out and creel anglers and make sure we are meeting some of our minimum requirements.”
Charette said the news of the fishery opening was just solidified within the last few days. He mentioned there likely won’t be angling or bait restrictions, but good catch-and-release practices are encouraged for wild fish.
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