Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for April 9, 2024. The data included in this report was collected between Monday, April 1 and Sunday, April 7, 2024.

During the past week, steelhead angler effort was concentrated upstream of the East Fork in location code 19. The only other areas that received moderate amounts of angler effort were downstream of the Pahsimeroi River confluence in location code 17 and upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18. Angler effort was very low in areas downstream of Elk Bend.

Catch rates remained good upstream of the East Fork in location code 19, while they continued to drop in all other areas. Anglers interviewed upstream of the East Fork in location code 19 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the East Fork in location code 18 averaged 27 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 24 hours per steelhead caught. Few interviews were obtained from anglers fishing downstream of the Lemhi River in location codes 15 and 16, and no anglers reported catching a steelhead from either of these areas.

Steady precipitation throughout the latter half of last week resulted in river conditions deteriorating by Thursday, especially downstream of the East Fork. Flows increased in all areas, and the river was muddy below the East Fork. Above the East Fork, the river had reduced visibility, but it remained fishable with at least 2-3 feet of visibility. Water temperatures on Sunday ranged from the low-40s above the East Fork to the mid-40s downstream of North Fork (see figure below).

As of Monday, April 7, the Pahsimeroi Hatchery has trapped 1,654 adipose-clipped steelhead, and the Sawtooth Hatchery has trapped 2,262 adipose-clipped steelhead. Anglers can check for updated trap numbers by following this link to the IDFG steelhead returns webpage.