Cooler temperatures and clear skies made last week feel a bit more like a typical October along the Upper Salmon River. In addition to clearing out the smoke, the weather changes also resulted in increased river flows, decreased water temperatures, and better steelhead fishing. Angler effort continued to increase downstream of Salmon, and we recorded many more steelhead caught compared to the previous weeks. Additionally, the Garden Fire Closure was terminated at 6:00 pm on Monday, October 21, 2024 (Garden Fire Closure Terminated).
Upper Salmon River Fall 2024 Steelhead Fishing Update (10-22-2024)
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This is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing update for the week of October 14 through October 20, 2024.
Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 13 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 also averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17 averaged 11 hours per steelhead caught.
River conditions changed throughout the week but remained good overall, especially over the weekend. On Sunday, the Upper Salmon River had clear visibility in all areas, and water temperatures were in the mid-40s. Currently, the Salmon River is flowing at 1,080 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 83 percent of average for today’s date.
