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Oregon fish managers shot down a proposal to require anglers to release all the wild steelhead they catch in the Rogue River and other southwest Oregon streams, saying anglers should still have a choice whether to keep a few of these iconic fish each year. But the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission squeezed down what “few” means by lowering the bag limit on wild winter steelhead from five a year to three beginning next year. The commission also ordered state biologists to work on a regional steelhead management plan for the Rogue, Chetco and other southwest Oregon streams where the bag limit applies. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will start that review in January, and the commission will revisit the wild winter steelhead bag limits when that plan is completed. Today’s decision does not affect wild summer steelhead in the Rogue, where they have been under full catch-and-release status for more than 20 years. In its unanimous decision, the commission followed ODFW’s recommendations to deny a petition by a contingent of steelhead anglers who said they wanted wild steelhead protected across the board in southwest Oregon. The petitioners say the change would create simpler and more consistent rules for the region, allow more angling opportunities because wild steelhead could be caught multiple times, and eventually it would create bigger fish that survive to spawn in multiple years. They also point to perceived declines in angling success rates from recent droughts and dips in ocean conditions and vast losses of wild juvenile steelhead habitat in the Chetco River drainage from last year’s Chetco Bar fire, according to the petition. South coast streams are some of the few remaining in the Pacific Northwest where the killing of any wild steelhead is allowed. The proposal also had an opposition camp among other steelhead anglers who, like ODFW, believe the streams sport strong enough wild winter steelhead runs to allow anglers to keep some. ODFW data show that most winter steelhead anglers already release most of the wild fish they catch, and that harvest data shows the vast majority of anglers do not keep more than two wild steelhead a year. Also, a 2013 Oregon State University public-opinion survey showed that 69 percent of Oregonians and 68 percent of anglers favor allowing anglers to keep some wild fish when it doesn't threaten population health. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.