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Already Record-low Steelhead Forecast Downgraded by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, September 27, 2026

Officials predicting a return of 59,200,
less than half of the preseason forecast

State, tribal and federal fisheries managers downgraded their forecast for the flagging steelhead run for a second time this fall.

The return of sea-run rainbow trout is the lowest on record and if the forecast proves accurate, that won't change. Members of the Technical Advisory Committee now predict a total of 59,200 steelhead bound for tributaries of the Columbia River will return at least as far as Bonneville Dam.

Prior to the season, fisheries managers had forecast 133,700 steelhead would return to Bonneville Dam. That included a call for 87,900 A-run steelhead, of which 33,100 were to be wild, and 40,100 B-run steelhead, of which 4,500 would be wild.

The latest forecast calls for 52,400 A-run steelhead, including 17,500 wild fish, and 6,800 B-run steelhead, including 2,400 wild fish.

From July 1 to Wednesday, 54,226 steelhead had been counted passing Bonneville Dam. That is a little more than half of the 10-year average and far behind the 2025 total of 138,127 for the same period.

The lowest July 1-to-Dec. 31 steelhead count at Bonneville Dam was recorded in 2021, when just 69,104 returned from the Pacific Ocean.

Fisheries managers have reduced steelhead bag limits in the Snake, Clearwater, Tucannon and Salmon rivers in response to this year's low numbers.

Wild Snake River steelhead are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and some populations are so low that fisheries managers fear they are in danger of going extinct.

Related Pages:
Rotten Run: Snake River Steelhead Return Stacking Up to be the Lowest on Record by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 9/16/26
A-run Steelhead Trending Below Average Return by Eric Barker, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, 8/6/26
A-run Steelhead Surpass Expectations by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 8/21/25