OLYMPIA - Steelhead finishing in the region will begin winding down with the closing of the Wenatchee River on Feb. 28.
     Sections of the Okanogan River selective closing March 15 include near Omak and Bonaparte creeks.
     For Omak, the river will be closed from the first power line crossing downstream of the state Highway 155 bridge in Omak (Coulee Dam Credit Union Building) to the mouth of the Omak Creek.
     In Tonasket, the river will be closed from the Tonasket Bridge at Fourth Avenue downstream to the Tonasket Lagoons Park boat launch.
     The rest of the Okanogan River will remain open until March 31 from the mouth upstream to the state Highway 97 bridge south of Oroville.
     Those areas open on the Columbia, Methow, Similkameen and Entiat rivers will close March 31.
     Anglers may retain hatchery adipose fin-clipped steelhead with circular (hole) punches in the caudal (tail) fin in areas of the Columbia River that remain open to steelhead fishing.
     Anglers are required to harvest hatchery origin steelhead with an adipose fin-clip and a healed scar in the location of the missing fin. There is a four fish mandatory daily retention limit on adipose fin-clipped steelhead, 20-inch minimum size.
     All steelhead with an intact adipose fin must be immediately released unharmed and cannot be removed from the water. All other fisheries must follow selective gear rules, except that bait is also allowed on the mainstem Columbia River from Rock Island Dam to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam.