Trout pond at the Rapid River Hatchery near Riggins will close to fishing and public access on Oct. 24

Fishing in the trout pond at the Rapid River Fish Hatchery will permanently close at the end of the day on Friday, Oct. 24 due to the impending facility redesign and construction project at that is expected to start in November.

The trout pond will be replaced with a new adult salmon holding and spawning facility. When completed, the project will allow fish production at Rapid River Hatchery to increase from 3 million to 4 million Chinook annually and provide more opportunity for anglers to harvest adult spring chinook salmon in the future.

This closure will mainly affect local residents in the Riggins area and surrounding communities. The 500 catchable rainbow trout allocated for this pond will be reallocated to other waters at the discretion of the Southwest Regional Fish Manager.