One steelhead bag limit on Umatilla River below Threemile Dam

PENDLETON, Ore. – The daily bag limit for hatchery steelhead below Threemile Dam will be reduced to one fish per day effective immediately and continuing through the remainder of the season to allow biologists to collect adequate broodstock at Threemile Dam.

Only hatchery steelhead may be taken, and wild steelhead must be released unharmed. The former limit was three fish in aggregate, comprised of coho and/or steelhead. The adjusted bag limit of three fish can include up to one steelhead, with the remainder coho. Fall Chinook fishing remains closed through Nov.30. See the NE zone regulation update .

The reduced bag limit is a result of low returns of hatchery steelhead reaching Threemile Dam paired with increased harvest rates. ODFW fish biologists are taking this action to ensure broodstock collection goals at Threemile Dam can be met and to support the long-term sustainability of the fishery.

Threemile Dam was constructed in the early 1900s and serves as an irrigation dam that is a complete barrier to fish migrating upstream. Salmon and steelhead must use the fish ladder to navigate the dam. Throughout the fall, migrating fish are sampled for biological data, collected for hatchery broodstock, or released upriver. The facility is run through a cooperative project by The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Always check for the latest regulations before fishing by going to the Recreation Report / Fishing Report for your zone (see NE Zone Regulation updates).