LEWISTON, ID – Summer steelhead returns are coming in far higher than expected this year, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Before the run began, fisheries managers from Idaho Fish and Game, along with tribal and federal partners, predicted a total of 67,500 steelhead would return to the Columbia River, including 55,600 A-run fish and 11,900 B-run fish.

As of Aug. 6, counts at Bonneville Dam show 76,000 A-run steelhead have already passed — more than double the 10-year average for the same period, which is about 30,000. That average includes some very poor return years.

Steelhead runs can be difficult to predict, said Anadromous Fisheries Coordinator Chris Sullivan, because most of this year’s fish spent only one year in the ocean, leaving few indicators to forecast returns.

B-run steelhead numbers remain unclear at this stage, with biologists expecting a better estimate in about a month.

About half of the steelhead counted so far are unclipped, meaning they are wild fish, suggesting wild steelhead numbers are also higher than usual this year.