Wednesday, September 13, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
Oregon lowers bag limit for steelhead
PHOTO PROVIDED
Rescuers rigged ropes and devices to hoist an injured climber from a cave
near Bend last weekend.
Man hurt in cave fall
On September 9 at about
1:26 p.m., Deschutes County
911 received a report from
Nathan Rose of Bend that
Tyrell Bailey of Bend had
fallen in the Bessie Butte
Cave near China Hat Road
and Forest Service Road
1810.
Rose reported that he and
some friends including Bailey
had descended into Bessie
Butte Cave and Bailey had
fallen as he tried to exit the
cave. Bailey was reported
to be injured and unable to
exit the cave on his own.
Deschutes County Sheriff’s
Office deputies, Bend Fire
Department, a Forest Service
law enforcement officer
and 20 Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office search and
rescue personnel responded
to the scene.
A technical rescue system
was set up by Bend Fire and
DCSO SAR personnel. The
system included an artificial
high directional and a rope
system to raise the patient out
of the cave, which included a
30-foot vertical section.
Bessie Butte Cave consists
of a confined space entrance
which limits accessibil-
ity. Bailey and his climbing
partners had limited experi-
ence and poor equipment
to attempt entry into such a
cave.
Deschutes County
Sheriff ’s Office reminds
those recreating in and around
caves to be familiar with the
type of cave, access and
exit gear requirements and
the technical skills required
to safely complete such an
exploration.
Bailey was transported
to the hospital by Bend Fire
medics with non-life-threat-
ening injuries.
PENDLETON (AP) _
Opening day won’t be an
abundant day when sum-
mer steelhead season arrives
Friday on the Grande Ronde
and Imnaha rivers.
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife announced
this week it’s lowering the bag
limit to one fish per day on
both tributaries. Meanwhile,
there will be no harvest in the
mainstem Snake River, but
catch-and-release fishing will
be allowed.
Oregon officials expect the
reduced bag limit for hatchery
steelhead will be temporary,
but it marks a conservative
beginning to a season that’s
expected to be hampered by
low returns. As of Monday,
only 70,000 hatchery and
25,000 wild steelhead have
passed Bonneville Dam. That
is 30 percent of the most
recent 10-year average.
“This is the lowest run
we’ve seen in decades, but
I’d encourage anglers not to
panic and give up on fishing
this year. Coupled with the
right river conditions, even
in a low-run year, we can still
have a worthwhile steelhead
fishery,” said Jeff Yanke, an
ODFW fish biologist based in
Enterprise.
“Folks will just need to
have a little more patience,”
he added, “and that is one
quality steelhead anglers
always bring to the river.”
The East Oregonian
reports that the dim outlook is
affecting some businesses.
“With all the bad reports
this spring, we’re definitely
seeing a lower rate of book-
ings for this fall,” said Grant
Richie, who leads guided
trips down the Wallowa and
Grande Ronde rivers.
He said one customer who
booked a year in advance
recently called out of concern
that the entire river would be
shut down. Richie assures
customers that though the run
is down, there are fish to be
caught.
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