Oregon lowers bag limit for summer steelhead

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - Summer steelhead season opens Friday on the Grande Ronde and Imnaha rivers. Anglers should not expect a bountiful start.

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife says it's lowering the bag limit to one fish per day on both tributaries. There will be no harvest in the mainstem Snake River but catch-and-release will be allowed.

Oregon officials expect the reduced bag limit for hatchery steelhead will be temporary, but it marks a conservative beginning to a season in which returns have been low.

The East Oregonian reports that as of Monday, only 70,000 hatchery and 25,000 wild steelhead have passed Bonneville Dam. That is 30 percent of the most recent 10-year average.