This year’s run of endangered sockeye salmon into the Snake River is “effectively over” and any of the fish crossing Lower Granite Dam after July, the most upriver of the lower four Snake River dams, have almost no chance of reaching the Sawtooth Basin.
Industrial-scale illegal fishing continues to undermine ocean sustainability, coastal livelihoods, and global seafood markets—despite decades of regulation and recent advances in surveillance technology, according to new University of British Columbia (UBC) research.
Oregon fisheries managers will close the Deschutes River to summer steelhead angling beginning Aug. 15, and other Oregon rivers may follow if the run of steelhead continues to arrive in the Columbia River in low numbers. The state’s Deschutes River Steelhead Management Framework requires that summer steelhead angling shut down if passage of the fish...
Above photo: Fin damage on a coho salmon is mostly caused by ‘fish-friendly’ landing nets. Credit: Quin Johnston Coho salmon released by recreational anglers are far more likely to survive when handled without a landing net, according to new research. In salmon fisheries where anglers may be required to release salmon that are undersized, wild or not the target species, post-release survival is critical to conservation...
Just when you thought the Idaho fish record books didn’t have any blank pages left, one adventurous angler from Moore, Idaho caught (and released) one of Idaho’s most coveted alpine fish back on June 20. Like many of us during the dog days of summer, angler Wade Jensen grabbed his collapsible fly rod and headed...
Recent monitoring conducted by the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station has revealed so-called forever chemicals in waters of the Flathead Watershed.
Welcome to the Idaho record fish books, Timothy Hicks! Timothy was fishing on Lake Pend Oreille on June 13 when he landed a 49.75-inch Northern pike. The Post Falls angler’s pike beat out the previous catch-and-release record caught by Scott Blahnik in 2020. Timothy’s pike was a mere 3/4 of an inch longer, earning himself...
For most anglers and spearfishers, getting paid to fish sounds too good to be true. On Lake Pend Oreille, it can be a reality through the Angler Incentive Program. Anglers and spearfishers who catch and turn in the heads of any walleye or lake trout from the lake are eligible to win cash prizes, but...
An Idaho Falls angler miraculously reeled in a new state catch-and-release record lake trout and, even more unbelievably, was able to hoist it up into the boat.
With severe drought in Idaho and summer heat on the way, it’s likely anglers will lose some fishing opportunities. “Drought affects many aspects of Idaho life, including fisheries, and we’re concerned,” Idaho Fish and Game Fisheries Bureau Chief Lance Hebdon said. “We will be watching them carefully, but there may be little we can do...
Oregon's snowpack is at a record-breaking low this year and most of the state is in moderate to extreme drought as of June 2026.
That will present challenges for cold-water fish, like trout and salmon. Warm and low water makes them more vulnerable to disease and may prevent migratory fish, like salmon and steelhead from reaching spawning grounds.
With the run of spring Chinook declining and with anglers faced with the prospect of no summer Chinook fishing, Oregon and Washington fisheries managers added 11 more days of recreational angling on the mainstem Columbia River.
Oregon and Washington fishery managers have finalized preseason planning for 2026 Columbia River summer and fall recreational salmon and steelhead fisheries.
In two of the past three weeks fisheries biologists have downgraded the forecasted run-size of upriver spring Chinook salmon in the Columbia River by 24 percent to 111,900 fish.
A new study by University of Victoria and Pacific Salmon Foundation scientists has uncovered what adult Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea are eating—and revealed diet can differ according to region.
The study, led by UVic PhD student Wesley Greentree and published recently in Fisheries Oceanography, analyzed the contents of salmon stomachs to assess salmon diet. Greentree found that year-round, herring are the most important food for adult Chinook salmon throughout the Salish Sea. Anchovy were often found in stomachs collected near Howe Sound and sand lance were important in Victoria and Sidney.
Following three consecutive years of closure, salmon fishing will return to the Klamath River Basin and Sacramento River for the upcoming summer and fall seasons.
More good news comes for inland anglers with a full season on the Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers after a shortened season in 2025.
The 2026 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery will open May 1, offering anglers the chance to earn cash while helping protect vulnerable salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The fishery will be open daily through Sept. 30 at most locations.
Above Photo by: Gavin Ullom Significant improvements in key California salmon populations – specifically Sacramento River fall-run Chinook and Klamath River fall-run Chinook – will allow for more ocean salmon fishing opportunities this year. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says that commercial ocean salmon fishing is back after being closed three straight years and that recreational ocean salmon anglers will have...
Anglers on north Idaho’s Lake Pend Oreille continue to play an important role in helping Idaho Fish and Game monitor the lake’s trophy rainbow trout fishery. Through the Lake Pend Oreille Angler Science Program, anglers voluntarily record details about their fishing trips and the trout they catch.
State fisheries managers have set the initial opening for recreational spring Chinook salmon angling on the mainstem Columbia River from Buoy 10 near Astoria, OR to the Oregon and Washington state line near Pasco, WA.
On Jan. 13, while many of Idaho’s anglers were breaking out the tape measure to check ice thicknesses and temperature gauges, one angler at Dworshak Reservoir had his tape measure out for a different reason.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is investigating the illegal introduction of a northern pike into Pine Grove Pond, a popular family fishing site in Kalispell.
Most anglers that wind up atop the Idaho state record fish leaderboards do so out of pure luck. But Robert Gregory’s story goes a little different.
For the fourth year in a row, recreational retention of white sturgeon in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam and in the Willamette River will remain closed, although catch and release angling is likely this year.
The New Year’s Day opening of the popular recreational white sturgeon fishery in the Columbia River’s Bonneville and The Dalles Dam pools was nixed by Oregon and Washington at a joint state hearing last week. However, the sturgeon fishery in the John Day pool will open as normal for anglers, Jan. 1. The change in regulations begins in 2026.
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