SALEM, Ore. — Barbless hooks will remain the rule when fishing for salmon, steelhead and trout in the lower Willamette River.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission declined on Friday to approve a Department of Fish and Wildlife proposal to allow barbed hooks in the lower Willamette, Multnomah Channel, lower Gnat Creek and Youngs Bay.
The barbless hook rule began in 2013 as part of the Columbia River Fisheries Management Reforms to reduce the mortality of wild spring chinook released in the Willamette.
