It's a record-breaking year for steelhead, but where are they?

We just got done fishing four days on the Salmon River near Riggins and fishing was really slow. A Fish and Game person surveying anglers from Hammer Creek to Lucile reported surprisingly slow fishing over the weekend.

The Treasure Valley Chapter of Safari Club International will offer Commemorative Tag Number 2 through an on-line auction on the Internet ending on Nov. 1. To place a bid click here: HERE

Just curious. I always like to hear (or read) hunting stories, both good and bad. Anybody have a story to share, feel free to post it below or send me an e-mail at rphillips@idahostatesman.com. Put "Hunting story" in the subject line.

If I get enough of them, maybe I can turn it into a cover story for November.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has been holding sportsmen's breakfasts around the area where anyone interested in wildlife and fish could meet and talk with biologists.

The breakfasts are an excellent idea and hopefully will continue to be a regular part of F&G's taking the public's pulse.

It's a chance for the public to learn some inside information, like at the upcoming breakfast in Mountain Home from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at AJ's Restaurant, 1130 Hwy. 20.

There were two deer on the hill across from my house this morning, and I realized tomorrow is game day. I am heading out steelhead fishing and will chase deer later this month, but I am still jealous of those leaving for the opening day of deer season.

Idaho Public Television's Outdoor Idaho will feature a controversial show Oct. 15 called "Wolves in Idaho."

It airs at 8 p.m. but repeats at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18.

"I think it’s the most polarizing issue we’ve covered in the show’s history. Hopefully, we’ve found some common ground," said Bruce Reichert, host of Outdoor Idaho, which is now in its 27th year.

The show's crew talked with biologists and policy makers, as well as wolf hunters and wolf advocates, to explore what it means to have wolves in Idaho.

PIZZA AND BEARS

A pizza-loving bear ripped into a tent trailer at Pine Flats Campground last weekend.

The campground is located between Garden Valley and Lowman and is popular because of its hot springs. It's apparently popular with a camp-food-loving bear.
The bear was chased away but came back again. The campers sat up all night worrying about the return of the critter.

Can't beat the aroma of microwavable pizza.

STATE PARKS ON TWITTER

Smolt survival through the Columbia/Snake River dams was way above average this spring, which could bode well for next year's steelhead return.

This came from the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin: Snake River steelhead survival from the lower Snake's Lower Granite Dam down through seven dams and reservoirs to below Bonneville Dam was 69.1 percent.

The bulletin reports those are preliminary numbers that may change by a few percentage points, but survival is still likely to exceed the 2003-08 survival rate of 40 percent through those dams and reservoirs.

As you get older, comfort means a lot more, especially when camping.

I got a shock today when I went to the Main Post Office in Boise to get a Duck Stamp and they were sold out.

"Sold out, really," I said. "Yeah, but I think we'll get more by Wednesday," the clerk said.

He did let me know that the Borah Post Office might have some. Needless to say, I jumped in the truck and headed Downtown. Luckily, they had some.

In all my years of duck hunting I've never gone to a post office and had them sold out of Duck Stamps. More hunters heading out, who knows?