Watch out for tagged steelhead!

ATTENTION ANGLERS:
Watch out for tagged steelhead!

Managing Idaho’s steelhead sport fishery to protect wild fish and provide hatchery fish for harvest is important to our state’s identity and economy. Effective management requires population monitoring and applied research. That’s why Idaho Fish and Game and the University of Idaho are teaming up on a new study to better understand and protect our wild steelhead and steelhead fisheries.

This study will tag both hatchery and wild steelhead returning to Idaho. Data from tagged steelhead will develop accurate counts of how many steelhead are caught and released in the Idaho sport fishery. The study, started in summer 2019, will continue as planned through spring 2021.

Anglers are critical to the success of this project! You can help by reporting any tagged steelhead you catch, which helps biologists manage the fishing we all love.

How you can help: Check for a tag!

Carefully examine any steelhead you catch. Look for an orange or yellow piece of plastic tubing near the dorsal fin. Each tag has a unique number printed on the tag. Record the tag number, river section where you caught the fish, and the date you caught it.

REMEMBER: Only hatchery steelhead with clipped adipose fin may be kept.

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Report tagged fish!

If you catch a tagged steelhead, please report the tag number to Fish and Game. Record the tag number and where you caught the fish. Reporting a tagged fish is easy and can be done either online, or by calling us as 1-866-258-0338.

Report a Tag Online

Catch a reward tag? All reward tags must be reported and then mailed to IDFG to be paid. Just cut the tag off and send it to:

Mail Reward Tags to:
Fish Tag Returns
1414 E. Locust Ln
Nampa ID, 83686

Want to learn more about this study and others like it? Visit our Wild Salmon and Steelhead Conservation webpage for more information by clicking here.