Steelhead fishing this week on the upper Salmon River remained similar to the previous week. The one exception was in location code 16, where angler effort increased and catch rates improved. The majority of anglers were observed in location code 17 near Ellis and upstream of the East Fork in location code 19. Overall, catch rates were good through Friday, but high temperatures on Friday and rain mixed with wind on Saturday caused flows to increase by Saturday which slowed the fishing down. Interviewed anglers in location code 15, upstream of the Middle Fork, averaged 73 hours per Steelhead caught and did not report keeping any Steelhead. Upstream of North Fork, in location code 16, interviewed anglers did much better than the previous week and averaged 17 hours per Steelhead caught and 88 hours per Steelhead kept. Interviewed anglers upstream of the Lemhi River, in location code 17, averaged 21 hours per Steelhead caught and 38 hours per Steelhead kept. Upstream of the Pahsimeroi River, in location code 18, interviewed anglers averaged 62 hours per Steelhead caught and 82 hours per Steelhead kept. The best fishing was once again found upstream of the East Fork, in location code 19. Interviewed anglers in this area averaged 8 hours per Steelhead caught and 16 hours per Steelhead kept.
Currently, the Salmon River is running high with cloudy visibility downstream of Stanley. As of Monday March 30th, the Salmon River is flowing at 2,150 cfs through the town of Salmon which is approximately 180% of average. Water temperatures in the mid to upper 40s were observed over the weekend.
As of Thursday, March 26th, the Pahsimeroi Hatchery has trapped 2,615 Steelhead while the Sawtooth Hatchery has trapped 1,431. Additionally, Kid’s Creek pond in Salmon was stocked with 256 adult Steelhead last week.
Brent Beller
Fisheries Technician * Idaho Department of Fish and Game – Region 7
