An angler lands a steelhead on the lower Deschutes River in a better year for returns. (Bulletin file)Wild summer steelhead returns on the Deschutes River are tracking among the lowest on record, prompting Oregon wildlife officials to close steelhead and salmon fishing on much of the river beginning Aug. 15. Just 7,388 wild steelhead passed Bonneville Dam in July, well short of the 9,900 fish required under ODFW’s Deschutes River Steelhead Management Framework to keep the fishery open. Chinook and coho salmon fishing also will close in those reaches because of the potential for incidental steelhead encounters. The management framework was adopted in 2021 after historically poor returns forced the first closure of the Deschutes steelhead fishery in decades.