Idaho Fish and Game plans to stock more than 250 steelhead in the Boise River starting on Thursday, Nov. 1, which will be the first of two stockings planned in the next few weeks for about 500 fish total.

The popular annual fishery attracts hundreds of anglers to the Boise River for a chance to catch a 4 to 10-pound fish.

The steelhead will be stocked from Glenwood Bridge to Barber Park. One additional stocking is planned later in November, weather permitting.

The actual number of steelhead stocked will depend on their size and the capacity of the truck hauling fish from Oxbow Hatchery on the Snake River.

Besides a fishing license, anglers need a steelhead permit for $12.75. Barbless hooks are not required for Boise River steelhead angling. Any steelhead caught by an angler without a steelhead permit must immediately release the fish.

All steelhead stocked in the Boise River will lack an adipose fin (the small fin normally found immediately behind the dorsal fin).

Boise River anglers catching a rainbow trout longer than 20 inches that lacks an adipose fin should consider the fish a steelhead.

Steelhead limits on the Boise River are three fish per day, nine in possession, and 20 for the fall season.

“We’re hopeful that this year’s hatchery steelhead run will allow Oxbow Hatchery personnel to fill their fish quota,” Fish and Game anadromous fish coordinator Sam Sharr said. “Any additional hatchery fish collected at the fish trap will be divided among Idaho Fish and Game, the Nez Perce Indian Tribe and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.”