ENTERPRISE – Record numbers of steelhead returning to the Snake River system has prompted Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to increase the bag limit for adipose fin-clipped steelhead in several northeast Oregon waters.

As of Sunday, Oct. 18, the bag limit for adipose fin-clipped steelhead was increased from three to five fish per day. That will remain in effect through April 15 in the following areas:

? Grande Ronde River from the Oregon/Washington state line to the mouth of the Wallowa River;

? Wallowa River from the mouth to Trout Creek.

? Imnaha River from the mouth to Big Sheep Creek.

In the Snake River from the Oregon/Washington state line to the angling deadline below Hells Canyon Dam, the new bag limit is five adipose fin-clipped steelhead of which no more than three may be 32-inches total length or greater. The states of Idaho and Washington have implemented similar regulations in the Snake River and tributaries.

The June 1 through Oct. 10 count of steelhead at lower Granite Dam was over 230,000 this year, about double the 10-year average.

With such a large run in the Snake River, managers expect abundant hatchery steelhead to return to trapping facilities on the Wallowa River, Little Sheep Creek (Imnaha basin), and at Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River.