Snake River Zone

Name: eRegulations
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Description

The Snake River Zone is all the waters of the Snake River from the Oregon-Washington border upstream to the Oregon-Idaho border. The boundary between the Snake River and its tributaries is defined as a straight line across the mouths of all rivers. The Snake River Zone includes the portions of the Burnt and Powder rivers downstream of the Huntington-Richland Road near their mouths and includes the portion of Pine Creek downstream of the Oxbow Bridge.

Snake River Zone Regulations

Where the Snake River forms the boundary between Oregon and Idaho, the following rules apply:
1. License of either state is valid in the Snake River when angling from a floating device. However, when fishing tributaries, sloughs or from sloughs or from lands within either state, the angler must be licensed by the state where the waters (or land) are located.
2. Anglers must follow the rules of the licensing state.
3. Anglers are restricted to one daily catch limit, even if licensed by both states.
4. Anglers may launch and take out their boats from either state, regardless of licensing state.
A valid Columbia River Basin Endorsement must be in possession when fishing for salmon, steelhead, or sturgeon in the mainstem Columbia River from Buoy 10 upstream and in all the rivers and their tributaries that flow into the Columbia River.
See Health Advisory.

Snake River Zone Regulations
Species	Bag Limit	Size Limit and Other Specifications	Season
Trout	6 per day, 3 daily limits in possession.	No minimum length limit. Only 1 trout over 20 inches in length may be taken per day, upstream of Hells Canyon Dam, except for Hells Canyon Reservoir. See Exceptions for Hells Canyon Reservoir. Rainbow trout over 20 inches are considered steelhead downstream of Hells Canyon Dam. No limit on size or number of brook or brown trout in streams unless noted under Exceptions. Closed to angling for bull trout.	Open all year.
Salmon		See exception for Washington State Line to Hells Canyon Dam. Barbless hooks required.	Closed in all waters unless noted by species under Exceptions.
Steelhead	3 per day.	Barbless hooks required. See exception for Washington State Line to Hells Canyon Dam. Only hatchery steelhead may be kept. No annual limit on hatchery steelhead as long as the appropriate number of Hatchery Harvest Tags has been purchased to record the fish.	Closed in all waters unless noted by species under Exceptions.
Bass	Lakes/Reservoirs: 6 per day, 3 daily limits in possession unless noted under Exceptions. Streams: No limit.	No more than 3 over 15 inches in length in lakes/reservoirs. No minimum length in streams. See Exceptions for additional information.	Open all year.
Bluegill, Catfish, Crappie, Other Sunfish, Walleye, Yellow Perch, Sucker, Carp, Chub, Northern Pikeminnow, Sculpin, Whitefish, Shad and other Nongame Fish	No limit.	None.
Sturgeon	Catch-and-release only.	Sturgeon may not be removed from the water and must be immediately released unharmed. Only one single-point, barbless hook may be used for sturgeon.

Exceptions to Snake River Zone Regulations

Brownlee Reservoir

12 inch minimum length on bass.
An Oregon angling license is required on the Powder River Arm from the mouth up to the Huntington – Richland Rd Bridge.
Brownlee Reservoir ends at the downstream point of Porter Island.

Hells Canyon Reservoir

3 hatchery trout over 20 inches may be harvested per day.
No size limit on bass.

Oxbow Reservoir

2 bass per day.
No harvest of bass between 12 and 16 inches.

Snake River

Washington State Line to Hells Canyon Dam.

Open for hatchery steelhead Jan 1 - Apr 30 and Sep 1 - Dec 31.
Open for hatchery Chinook salmon Apr 22 - Aug 17 from Dug Bar Boat Ramp to Hells Canyon Dam. 4 hatchery Chinook per day, only 2 of which may be an adult.
Open for Chinook salmon Aug 18 - Oct 31. 3 adult Chinook salmon per day, no limit on jacks.
Wild trout must be released.
Closed from Hells Canyon Dam downstream 400 ft to cable crossing.

Above Brownlee Reservoir to Idaho State Line

6 bass per day: no minimum length.
Two rod validation may be used all year.

Catch-and-release

All trout, salmon and steelhead that are released must be unharmed and should not be removed from the water.

Informational poster warning about invasive Northern Pike in Oregon. Includes an illustration of a Northern Pike, a photo of an angler holding the fish, and text explaining that anglers must kill any Northern Pike caught, with no size or possession limit. — ODFW poster explaining that Northern Pike are a prohibited invasive species in Oregon and must be killed if caught, with no minimum size or possession limit.

Snake River Zone-End

Keep Oregon Rivers Clean (KORC)

Fishing Line Recycling Stations

Discarded fishing line and tackle can be dangerous to fish and wildlife and spoil the scenery. Please discard line and tackle properly.

ODFW's Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program established collection stations at fishing areas across the state. Local volunteers including conservation and sporting groups maintain the collection stations. Materials collected are reused, recycled, or properly disposed of.

For information about the program, volunteer opportunities or placing a collection station in your area, please call (503) 947-6232 or contact your local ODFW office. Look for a collection station at boat ramps and streambank access sites and help Keep Oregon’s Rivers Clean.

Older child lifting a young child so she can place used fishing line into a recycling tube at an outdoor collection station on a sunny day. — A young angler helps recycle used fishing line by placing it in a designated collection tube, promoting clean and healthy Oregon waterways.