An extremely small number of steelhead returning to Idaho so far has prompted Fish and Game to reduce the bag limit on adipose-clipped hatchery steelhead to zero — closing all rivers to harvest for the fall steelhead season.

Through Aug. 14, about 400 steelhead have crossed Lower Granite Dam about 30 miles downstream from Lewiston. The 10-year average for that date is about 6,000 steelhead. Regardless of the size of the hatchery return, anglers have been required to release any wild fish caught since 1987. Catch and release of wild fish is an important conservation tool to protect them, and it continues this year.

Closing harvest of hatchery steelhead while leaving it open for catch-and-release fishing will also help ensure enough broodstock return to steelhead hatcheries to produce the next generation of fish.

Although only a fraction of the steelhead run has crossed Lower Granite Dam, fisheries managers are tracking the run as it moves upstream.

Historic run data shows that by Aug. 15, about half of the fish should have already crossed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which is the first dam where the fish are counted.

Through Aug. 14, only 3,900 Idaho steelhead have crossed Bonneville.

Fisheries managers are carefully watching steelhead returns, and if there’s an unexpected increase, harvest can be reopened, but at this point, that’s very unlikely. Washington and Oregon have also restricted steelhead harvest for anglers in the Columbia River to protect Idaho-bound fish.

“We realize steelhead anglers will be disappointed, and many will choose not to fish this fall as a result of the decision to close harvest,” said Lance Hebdon, Fish and Game’s anadromous fish manager. “We will continue to monitor hatchery and wild steelhead returns as the run continues to determine if changes are needed.”

Fisheries managers say they’re aware some people are concerned about the possible effects of allowing catch-and-release angling on a small return.

“Based on our experience, catch-and-release fishing has proven to be an effective conservation tool, and we’ve been able to allow it in the past while still protecting a below-average return of wild fish,” Hebdon said. “We realize that catch-and-release is not zero-impact, but it is very low impact. With the expected reduction in angler participation, we are confident that the protection is there. We have documented populations rebounding even with a limited number of spawners.”

Every year’s run of adults is produced by at least two years of outmigrating young fish, which provide a buffer during years of poor returns.

While closing the harvest for adipose-clipped steelhead could put a damper on fall fisheries, an abundant run of fall chinook returning to Idaho will provide some good fishing opportunity. The forecast is for 27,000 chinook, and those fish are now arriving.

Fall chinook fishing season opens on Aug. 18, and anglers can harvest six adult chinook daily, and there’s no bag limit on “jack” fall chinook smaller than 24 inches.

Catch and

Release Tips n If possible, don’t play the fish to total exhaustion while attempting to land it. n Keep the fish in the water as much as possible when handling it, removing the hook and preparing it for release. n When removing the hook, don’t squeeze the fish or place your fingers in its gills. n If the fish has swallowed the hook, don’t pull it out. Instead, cut the line as close to the hook as possible, leaving the hook inside the fish. n If a fish is exhausted, hold it in a swimming position in the water and gently move it back and forth until it is able to swim away.

They’re big, they’re hard fighting, and they’re one of Idaho’s most overlooked trophy fishing opportunities, but many anglers are still confused whether they can target bull trout for catch-and-release fishing.

The short answer is yes.

When bull trout were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined state fishing regulations provided sufficient conservation benefits. In Idaho, that meant bull trout fishing was allowed, but harvest was not.

Those regulations are still in place, so bull trout can be caught, but they must be immediately released unharmed. While they’re not as abundant as other types of trout, Idaho’s bull trout populations are generally in good shape and capable of supporting some great catch-and-release fishing opportunities.

Though you can’t take them home, fishing for bull trout can be exciting because they’re large fish and aggressive by nature, and they can be caught on flies, lures and bait, if the body of water is open to bait fishing.

Bull trout are widespread in Idaho, mostly in rivers and streams, but they can also found in lakes and reservoirs. They are in most river drainages in central and northern Idaho that flow into the Snake and Columbia rivers. They’re most common in coldwater rivers, which in summer often means upper-elevation streams. Bull trout need water that’s 60 degrees or cooler, and water that’s around 54 degrees is ideal habitat for them.

Many bull trout will seasonally migrate through watersheds. Some will winter in a large river, or lake or reservoir, then move into tributaries and headwaters during summer. They spawn in early fall and then slowly migrate downstream to complete the cycle. In some systems, this round trip can be 50 miles or more.

Because of their migratory nature, bull trout can be a challenge to locate, but if you know their seasonal patterns, especially as they move into the high country during summer, they can congregate in relatively small streams.

When young, bull trout eat insects, but as they grow larger, they shift their diet to other fish. Bull trout evolved with whitefish, sculpins and other trout, and consume them as food.

How large a bull trout grows depends on where they live and how much food is available, but even in relatively small streams, they can dwarf other resident trout species. The state-record bull trout is 32 pounds, which was caught in 1949 from Lake Pend Oreille when harvest was legal. The current state record for catch-and-release is 23.5 inches from the Salmon River.

Bull trout’s relatively large size and the water clarity where they often reside means anglers can spot them in holding water. But they’re remarkably well camoflauged and become almost invisible, even in shallow, clear water. You can often spot the white tips of their fins, and the shadow of a large fish might give away its location.

Anglers targeting bull trout should focus on their predatory nature by using lures or streamer flies that imitate their prey, especially imitating a wounded fish that makes an easy meal.

Anglers targeting bull trout shouldn’t expect high catch rates. The fish are often solitary and well dispersed throughout the river systems, but they can occasionally be found in small schools.

While landing one can be a challenge, their size and weight can sometimes rival salmon and steelhead, and catching a large bull trout in one of Idaho’s cool, clear mountain streams can be an unforgettable experience.

Turns out Idaho’s mule deer fawn mortality wasn’t as bad as feared, but still the second-lowest winter survival in nearly 20 years.

About 30 percent of radio collared fawns and 90 percent of collared does survived the harsh conditions last winter with deep snow and frigid temperatures on low-elevation winter range.

Elk survival was substantially better with 54 percent of radio collared calves and 96 percent of collared cows making it through winter.

While that’s a touch of good news after a challenging winter, mule deer hunters will see fewer young bucks in the fall, and in some places, very few.

The statewide average doesn’t represent the wild swings across the state. The McCall/Weiser area had the lowest survival rate with only 3 percent of collared fawns surviving winter, while the Smoky/Bennett area and South Hills in south-central Idaho had 60 and 57 percent survival, respectively.

To add more perspective, Fish and Game biologists have been collaring deer in early winter and monitoring them through spring over the last 19 years. Last winter’s 30 percent fawn survival was four points above the lowest on record, which was in 2010-11, but well below the 19-year average of 57 percent.

Winter fawn monitoring provides vital, real-time information for setting seasons and allows biologists to quickly react to changing herd sizes, which they did this year by reducing doe tags in many areas.

It’s difficult to quantify, but Fish and Game’s massive feeding effort likely reduced winter mortality. During peak winter, Fish and Game staff and volunteers, in cooperation with many private landowners, operated 156 feeding sites that fed more than 13,000 deer, 12,000 elk and 200 pronghorn.

The effort was not only to sustain them, but also to prevent big game from damaging crops and agriculture lands, and reduce safety hazards associated with wildlife in communities and along roads and highways.

Fish and Game also closed many of its wildlife management areas during winter to reduce stress on big game herds.

Winter was relatively normal north of the Salmon River in Idaho’s prime whitetail country. Whitetails continue to be an integral part of Idaho’s deer population and account for more than 40 percent of the annual harvest.

North and north/central Idaho’s winter weather was closer to average than southern Idaho’s. Whitetails tend to have high birth rates of twins where they have good forage, and they tend to bounce back quickly after winter losses.

How the winter affects deer harvests remains to be seen because there are many variables for hunting success beyond the winter survival. But for a little perspective, the deer harvest in 2011 hunting season – after the lowest winter fawn survival – was 2,555 fewer deer statewide than the previous year, a drop of 6 percent.

Reservoirs are filling across southern Idaho, and fisheries managers are looking forward to the benefits that big water brings.

“When we have these great water years, we have so much more habitat,” said Dave Teuscher, fisheries manager for the Southeast Region. “And the amount of forage is just incredible.”

Teuscher said he wishes he could stock about 3 or 4 million more trout in reservoirs so he could take advantage of all the water. He explained that in years with a lean snowpack, reservoirs are often drained to minimum pool during summer. Depending on the reservoir, that can mean as little as 10-percent of the pool remains to sustain fish.

There’s a bottleneck for the reservoir’s fish population because the fish are condensed into tight space until the following spring, and also subject to stress from warm water, low oxygen and predation.

But when reservoirs fill, and in some cases spill over, prime spring conditions with abundant cool water and plentiful forage last longer. Reservoirs may end the summer with up to four times their normal pools of water, which gives fish more space to live, grow and avoid predators. Those conditions produce more and larger trout, and the benefits often last several years, even if drier conditions resume.

“The difference is off the charts,” he said. “It’s night and day.”

Joe Kozfkay and Doug Megargle, fish managers for the Southwest and Magic Valley regions, are taking the opportunity to restock waters that were drained so low in recent years they could no longer sustain fish, and in some cases, completely dried.

They will immediately start restocking trout. Kozfkay said there will be plenty available considering high-flowing rivers are unsuitable for stocking trout. Managers will reallocate hatchery trout scheduled for stream stocking to reservoirs, lakes and ponds until rivers recede, which could be mid summer.

Kozfkay also plans to restock some reservoirs with bass and bluegill, including Blacks Creek Reservoir, Paddock Reservoir and Indian Creek Reservoir, as well as several ponds in the Treasure Valley area.

Magic Valley manager Megargle said Little Camas Reservoir, Mormon Reservoir and Thorn Creek Reservoirs will get trout this year.

Managers have a large, but not unlimited, supply of rainbow trout available in hatcheries. They can provide immediate fishing opportunity by stocking standard 10-to-12 inch “catchables,” or their larger hatchery cousins, known as “jumbos,” which take longer and are more expensive to produce, but get caught at a higher rate by anglers than smaller fish.

Managers can also stock inexpensive “fingerling” trout that are about 3 to 6 inches, but will quickly grow and provide fishing for anglers. In full reservoirs brimming with food, those fish can grow up to an inch a month.

Restocking warmwater fish, such as bass, bluegill, crappie and perch, is different than stocking trout. Because these fish are not typically available from Fish and Game’s hatcheries, they have to be transplanted from other waters.

“It’s rather labor intensive,” Kozfkay said.

Managers also don’t restock warmwater fish to provide immediate fishing opportunity. The goal is for transplanted adult fish to spawn and produce a larger population. With a little help from nature, that can happen in a few years because warmwater fish are prolific, and refilled reservoirs are usually very productive.

“The fish populations can blow up in a hurry, and that’s exciting,” Kozfkay said.

The timing can be tricky because managers want the new crop of fish transplanted before the fish spawn in the spring.

“You have a short window of time from when they move into the shallows and can be captured, but before they spawn,” he said.

While big water years are good for growing trout and restarting warmwater fish and panfish populations, no one’s crystal ball is clear enough to know how much water there will be in the future.

A few lean snowpacks and/or hot, dry summers could put some reservoirs back in the same predicament. Managers have to balance that reality with the time and money required to restock reservoirs with fish.

“It’s a gamble,” Kozfkay said. “But the optimist in me is excited to do it.”

Welcome to 2017, I hope you had a great hunting season last year, and it’s understandable if you think the season is winding down. Many people think hunting seasons start in late summer, run through fall and end during winter, but there are many hunting opportunities in Idaho throughout the year.

Since we just started the new year, you can consider this the beginning of a new hunting season, too. Get your 2017 hunting license, if you haven’t already, and keep going into the field to pursue game and have the wonderful experiences that go along with it.

There’s a lot of options in January, and beyond. Some upland bird seasons last through January. Duck and Canada goose seasons close at different times during January depending on which part of the state you’re in, and other waterfowl hunting opportunities run later.

White-fronted goose season goes until Feb. 19 in Area 2, which includes Southwest Idaho and portions of the Magic Valley (see the migratory game bird rules for details).

Light goose seasons (blue, snow and Ross’s) extend into March depending on the area, so again, please check the rules booklet so you can see the exact boundaries.

Light geese are overpopulated in some areas, and biologists are concerned that their high abundance can damage Arctic habitat, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That means there are special rules in place to reduce these high populations, including the use of electronic calls and allowing unplugged shotguns. There are restrictions on where those rules apply, so again, check the rules booklet.

Snow geese and white-fronts are interesting and exciting birds to hunt. If you’ve ever listened to a flock of snow geese overhead, or seen a swirling mass of white-fronted geese (aka speckle bellies) landing in a field, you know what I am talking about. It’s a sight to see, hear and experience. If you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to check them out, even if you’re not hunting them.

One reason for the late seasons for these birds is they are often migrating back from the south, and following the receding snow line north, which makes southern Idaho a natural, but brief, stop over.

When you’re done hunting waterfowl, you will barely have time to stow your decoys and clean your shotgun before spring turkey season opens on April 15. It’s a great time to be in the woods as they are coming alive with the sound of gobbling toms.

Some hunters compare the excitement of calling a tom turkey to calling a bull elk, but with a much easier pack out if you’re successful at bringing a gobbler within shotgun range and closing the deal.

Turkey hunting is also a great way to introduce novices to hunting because they often see and hear the birds up close, and there’s usually not the long, arduous hiking that’s involved with big game hunting.

If you’re not a bird hunter, but still want to keep hunting, some hunters extend their season by taking on the challenge of predator hunting.

Mountain lion and wolf hunting are open and continue through March in most parts of the state and beyond March in some areas. You can find details in the big game rules booklet. Mountain lions are typically hunted with hounds, which is not an option for the average hunter, but there there are outfitters available to guide you on one of these exciting hunts.

Predator hunting is also done by calling in the animals, and they all have a reputation for being wary and wily, so expect to put in some effort doing it, but you will have a trophy if you succeed. The pelts are prime during winter, so you can have one turned into a rug, or a full-body mount.

The end of mountain lion and most wolf seasons at the end of March dovetails with the start of spring black bear hunting in April, so you can continue pursuing big game.

Like mountain lions, black bears are often hunted with hounds in units where it’s allowed, but hunters are also successful at baiting them, or by spotting and stalking them similar to deer and elk hunting. Spring bear hunting runs through June in many units.

That brings us to July, and if you’re still itching to keep hunting, there are some limited opportunities for wolf hunting, but for most hunters, it’s time to start thinking about deer, elk and other seasons that start in August, September and October.

So don’t feel like your 2017 hunting seasons should be limited to few months. If you’re willing to use your creativity and try some different quarry, and you can keep hunting nearly year round in Idaho.

Welcome to 2017, I hope you had a great hunting season last year, and it’s understandable if you think the season is winding down. Many people think hunting seasons start in late summer, run through fall and end during winter, but there are many hunting opportunities in Idaho throughout the year.

Since we just started the new year, you can consider this the beginning of a new hunting season, too. Get your 2017 hunting license, if you haven’t already, and keep going into the field to pursue game and have the wonderful experiences that go along with it.

There’s a lot of options in January, and beyond. Some upland bird seasons last through January. Duck and Canada goose seasons close at different times during January depending on which part of the state you’re in, and other waterfowl hunting opportunities run later.

White-fronted goose season goes until Feb. 19 in Area 2, which includes Southwest Idaho and portions of the Magic Valley (see the migratory game bird rules for details).

Light goose seasons (blue, snow and Ross’s) extend into March depending on the area, so again, please check the rules booklet so you can see the exact boundaries.

Light geese are overpopulated in some areas, and biologists are concerned that their high abundance can damage Arctic habitat, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That means there are special rules in place to reduce these high populations, including the use of electronic calls and allowing unplugged shotguns. There are restrictions on where those rules apply, so again, check the rules booklet.

Snow geese and white-fronts are interesting and exciting birds to hunt. If you’ve ever listened to a flock of snow geese overhead, or seen a swirling mass of white-fronted geese (aka speckle bellies) landing in a field, you know what I am talking about. It’s a sight to see, hear and experience. If you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to check them out, even if you’re not hunting them.

One reason for the late seasons for these birds is they are often migrating back from the south, and following the receding snow line north, which makes southern Idaho a natural, but brief, stop over.

When you’re done hunting waterfowl, you will barely have time to stow your decoys and clean your shotgun before spring turkey season opens on April 15. It’s a great time to be in the woods as they are coming alive with the sound of gobbling toms.

Some hunters compare the excitement of calling a tom turkey to calling a bull elk, but with a much easier pack out if you’re successful at bringing a gobbler within shotgun range and closing the deal.

Turkey hunting is also a great way to introduce novices to hunting because they often see and hear the birds up close, and there’s usually not the long, arduous hiking that’s involved with big game hunting.

If you’re not a bird hunter, but still want to keep hunting, some hunters extend their season by taking on the challenge of predator hunting.

Mountain lion and wolf hunting are open and continue through March in most parts of the state and beyond March in some areas. You can find details in the big game rules booklet. Mountain lions are typically hunted with hounds, which is not an option for the average hunter, but there there are outfitters available to guide you on one of these exciting hunts.

Predator hunting is also done by calling in the animals, and they all have a reputation for being wary and wily, so expect to put in some effort doing it, but you will have a trophy if you succeed. The pelts are prime during winter, so you can have one turned into a rug, or a full-body mount.

The end of mountain lion and most wolf seasons at the end of March dovetails with the start of spring black bear hunting in April, so you can continue pursuing big game.

Like mountain lions, black bears are often hunted with hounds in units where it’s allowed, but hunters are also successful at baiting them, or by spotting and stalking them similar to deer and elk hunting. Spring bear hunting runs through June in many units.

That brings us to July, and if you’re still itching to keep hunting, there are some limited opportunities for wolf hunting, but for most hunters, it’s time to start thinking about deer, elk and other seasons that start in August, September and October.

So don’t feel like your 2017 hunting seasons should be limited to few months. If you’re willing to use your creativity and try some different quarry, and you can keep hunting nearly year round in Idaho.

The special deer season (hunt number 1180) in controlled hunt area 69-1X runs now through Nov. 30 and is limited to that portion of unit 69 that lies east and west of the Long Valley/Bone road. It does not include any portion of units 66 or 66A.

“The reason for trying to carve this part of the unit out was to try and focus harvest on deer that have the highest likelihood of wintering on Tex Creek WMA and not apply harvest to those deer that would not winter in the Tex Creek area,” Regional Wildlife Manager Curtis Hendricks said. “We realize that this is not going to be an exact or surgical effort, but we felt it was a reasonable boundary for a more directed harvest.”

The fire burned about 53,000 acres in Eastern Idaho last summer, including about 75 percent of the 34,000-acre wildlife management area. The fire burned most of the crucial range for about 3,500 elk, 5,000 mule deer and 100 moose that winter on the WMA, so it can sustain fewer animals this winter.

Fish and Game is also prepared to start emergency winter feeding following the hunting seasons. F&G officials decided a combination of emergency winter feeding and additional harvest is the best way to reduce over-winter mortality, allow winter-range vegetation to recover, and reduce damage to nearby private land.

The special elk season (hunt number 2230) in controlled hunt area 66-1X will run Nov. 17 to Nov. 30. These hunts are open only to people who possess tags for them.