The upper Salmon River continued to fish well over the past week. Steelhead angler effort was highest upstream of Salmon, ID in location codes 17, 18, and 19. Angler effort downstream of the Middle Fork in location code 14 was low, and no angler interviews were obtained. Interviewed anglers downstream of North Fork, in location code 15, averaged 22 hours per steelhead caught and 133 hours per steelhead kept. Upstream of North Fork in location code 16, interviewed anglers averaged 9 hours per steelhead caught and 22 hours per steelhead kept. Interviewed anglers upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17 averaged 10 hours per steelhead caught and 15 hours per steelhead kept. Interviewed anglers upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 21 hours per steelhead kept. Upstream of the East Fork in location code 19, interviewed anglers averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 15 hours per steelhead kept.
The Salmon River is currently flowing at 1,240 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 105 percent of average for today’s date. Water temperatures over the weekend were in the low to mid 40s with clear water conditions upstream of Salmon and slightly cloudy water conditions downstream of Salmon on Sunday.
As of March 25th, 2,120 adult hatchery steelhead have returned to the Pahsimeroi Hatchery, and as of March 24th, 582 adult hatchery steelhead have returned to the Sawtooth Hatchery.
Report by Brent Beller * Idaho Department of Fish and Game – Region 7
