Here are the current regulations for tribal members this year:
Sherars Falls
Tribal Council has established regulations regarding salmon, steelhead and eel harvest at Sherars Falls. For the 2022 fishing season fishing is open 7 days per week, 24 hrs per day. Marked spring chinook, marked and unmarked fall chinook, marked and unmarked coho and marked steelhead may be kept. All un-marked spring chinook and steelhead must be released all year. Sockeye must be released all year. The Off-Reservation Fish and Wildlife Committee will monitor the fishery weekly to see if modifications are necessary.
For the remainder of Deschutes River unmarked spring chinook may not be retained all year. Marked and unmarked fall chinook and marked and unmarked coho and marked steelhead may be kept. Sockeye may not be kept.
New this year is a resolution regulating eel harvest at Sherars Falls. Harvest is allowed when lamprey arrive in June through the end of August using hands or hand-powered tools such as dip nets or gaffs. Harvest is open 24 hrs per day Friday, Saturday and Sunday for general subsistence harvest; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for research tagging operations and Thursday is gathering for the freezer. Freezer harvest will end after 750 eels are caught and Thursday will become a general harvest day. Fishers must share the falls with fellow tribal members. This is a subsistence fishery, no sales are allowed, enrollment cards must be on your person and you must allow BNR staff to examine your eels if asked.
Hood River
The Hood River sub-basin including all forks and tributaries is open 7 days per week from dawn until dusk April 15th through July 15th for spring chinook salmon, with the exception of the following areas that are closed year round:
- 100 feet up or downstream from the Dee Mill fish trap in the East Fork of the Hood River.
- In the West Fork of Hood River upstream of Green Point Creek and
- In the entire length of Rogers Creek, a tributary to the Middle Fork of Hood River.
Only marked hatchery chinook may be retained. Other salmon species may be retained during the spring chinook season.
If 378 Hood River origin adults have not passed Bonneville Dam by May 15, an “emergency closure” may be implemented by the Fish and Wildlife Committee in consultation with the Branch of Natural Resources.
Gear must be removed on the last day of the season. Gear left over 24 hours after the end of the season will be considered abandoned and become the property of Branch of Natural Resources.
John Day River
The entire John Day River is open from April 1st through July 15th for spring chinook salmon, with the exception of the John Day River upstream of the Sheep Rock National Monument and all tributaries.
Both marked hatchery and unmarked spring chinook may be retained. Other salmon species may be retained during the spring chinook season.
