Steelhead angler effort in the vicinity of Stanley, ID remained high over the past week. Effort in other areas of the upper Salmon River continued to drop, and few interviews were obtained downstream of the East Fork Salmon River. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 34 hours per steelhead kept. No interviews were obtained between the Pahsimeroi River and East Fork Salmon River in location code 18. Upstream of the East Fork in location code 19, interviewed anglers averaged 5 hours per steelhead caught and 19 hours per steelhead kept.
The Salmon River downstream of the Yankee Fork Salmon River confluence is currently flowing at 2,060 cfs which is 160% of average for today’s date. Water temperatures over the weekend were in the mid-40s. On Sunday, the river’s visibility was cloudy between the Sawtooth Hatchery and Basin Creek and muddy downstream of Basin Creek.
As of Thursday, April 19th the Sawtooth Hatchery had trapped 1,397 hatchery steelhead, and as of Friday, April 20th the Pahsimeroi Hatchery had trapped 3,223 hatchery steelhead.
(report and info by Brent Beller – Idaho Fish & Game)
