Steelhead angler effort on the upper Salmon River dropped over the past week, but catch rates were good for this late in the season. The majority of anglers were observed fishing in location code 19 near Stanley, ID. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 13 hours per steelhead kept. Anglers interviewed upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18 averaged 12 hours per steelhead caught and did not report harvesting a steelhead. Anglers interviewed upstream of the East Fork in location code 19 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 19 hours per steelhead kept.
Currently the Salmon River is flowing at 3,730 cfs through the town of Salmon which is 183% of average for today’s date. Rain over the weekend resulted in increased flows and decreased visibility by Sunday. Water temperatures over the weekend were in the low to mid-40s.
As of Thursday April 20th, the Sawtooth Hatchery had trapped 1,780 adult hatchery steelhead, and the Pahsimeroi Hatchery had trapped 3,186 adult hatchery steelhead.
Report via Brent Beller – Idaho Fish & Game
