The official word is out now, about the closure of some of the steelhead waters in our area. Somewhat different than expected, it leaves quite a bit of water open through the winter, and saves some other areas for potential reopening in the spring. The areas that are now closed include the main stem Columbia River from Rock Island Dam all the way up to Wells Dam. Also closing is the Wenatchee River and the Icicle River. The return of steelhead to these areas was much lower than anticipated, and by closing them now there is the possibility of being able to fish them perhaps in February or March of next year. These closures also mean no whitefish season on the Wenatchee River. The closures will not affect the steelhead and whitefish seasons on the Okanogan, Similkameen, Methow and main stem Columbia River from Wells Dam upstream to Chief Joseph Dam. I don’t expect to see much traffic on the rivers that remain open for a while, though. I am sure that the Okanogan will freeze and ice is a problem on the smaller rivers. Fishing on the Columbia will be difficult until temperatures rise a bit.