Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for October 21, 2025. The data discussed in this report were collected from October 13 through October 19.
The fall 2025 steelhead fishery on the Upper Salmon River started to kick in last week as we observed increased angler effort and began encountering more steelhead being caught. The highest levels of angler effort and most of the catch were recorded downstream of North Fork in location code 15. Angler activity also increased upstream of North Fork in location code 16, and we encountered anglers who had caught steelhead in that location as well. We expect the fishery to keep improving over the next few weeks as more steelhead make their way upriver.
We also wanted to provide another update on the number of Upper Salmon River steelhead that have crossed Lower Granite Dam so far this fall. Below is an updated figure we’ve been including each week showing the cumulative number of Sawtooth Hatchery steelhead that have crossed Lower Granite. Since last week’s update, we estimate that an additional 2,143 steelhead destined for either the Pahsimeroi or Sawtooth hatcheries have crossed Lower Granite, increasing the conversion rate between Bonneville and Lower Granite dams to approximately 68% for steelhead headed to those hatcheries.
River conditions remained good last week. Flows were relatively stable but increased yesterday due to precipitation the area received over the weekend. Water temperatures continue to slowly trend downward and were in the upper 40s over the weekend. As of today, water temperatures are down to 46°F, and the Salmon River is flowing at 1,320 cfs through the town of Salmon, which is 102% of average for today’s date (see figures below).
That’s all we have for this week’s update. If you have questions or would like additional information, please call the Salmon Regional Office at (208) 756-2271.
-Brent Beller – IDFG
