Deschutes River to steelhead and salmon fishing Aug. 15
Oregon closes the Deschutes River to steelhead and salmon fishing Aug. 15, ODFW announced last week, after just 7,388 wild steelhead passed Bonneville Dam in July, short of the 9,900 the agency’s Deschutes River Steelhead Management Framework requires to keep the fishery open. The lower Deschutes at Macks Canyon. Photo courtesy of Greg Shine/BLM Jason Seals, an ODFW fish biologist, told the Bend Bulletin the return “seems very similar to 2021” and looks likely to finish in “the top five lowest returns on record dating back to 1976.” The Framework itself was adopted in 2021, after historically poor returns forced the first Deschutes steelhead closure in decades. Trout fishing stays open, and fall chinook fishing continues on the lower river from Sherars Falls downstream to the railroad trestle through Oct. 31, a stretch ODFW says has historically produced very little incidental steelhead catch. The Framework allows a Sept. 15 reopener if wild returns exceed 23,100 fish by Aug. 31, but Seals told the Bulletin that outcome looks unlikely. Returns would need to average nearly 500 unmarked steelhead a day at Bonneville, and only one day has cleared that mark so far. ODFW said the poor return may also affect fishing on other tributaries with their own Frameworks. The John Day, Umatilla, Grande Ronde and Imnaha will see closure decisions later in the year. MidCurrent covered the last Framework-driven Deschutes closure in 2022 and the recovery year that reopened the fishery in 2024.
Source: Deschutes River Closes to Steelhead and Salmon Fishing August 15 | MidCurrent
