Thanksgiving on The Boise

If you’re planning the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving this year, you might want to rethink your plans. Fresh steelhead might be on the menu following the release of these big fish in the Boise River this week.

Starting Thursday, November 6, approximately 330-350 hatchery steelhead will be stocked in the Boise River at locations between Glenwood Bridge and Barber Park. An additional 600-700 steelhead will be stocked in the Boise River over the next two weeks and 50 fish will be placed in the Payette River near Emmett.

Anglers hoping to catch one of the 4 to 10 pound hatchery steelhead need a valid fishing license, an $11.50 steelhead permit, which is good for 20 fish. Barbless hooks are not required for Boise River steelhead fishing. The steelhead being stocked into the Boise River have spent one or two years in the ocean and have returned to the Oxbow Hatchery fish trap below Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River.

The first 500-600 fish returning to the trap are kept for hatchery needs. Additional fish returning to the trap are divided equally among the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Nez Perce Indian tribe and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

Each partner will receive approximately 1,000 fish. The Nez Perce tribe plans to release a portion of their fish in the Little Salmon River at Riggins with the balance to be used to feed tribal members, while the ODFW is stocking their fish in Hells Canyon reservoir.