Upper Salmon River Fall 2024 Steelhead Fishing Update (11-26-2024)

Inconsistent weather and river conditions made fishing more challenging on some days last week, but many anglers still managed to catch steelhead. Angler effort was similar to the previous week, with most bank anglers observed downstream of North Fork, while boat anglers were primarily spread out between Spring Creek and Salmon, ID.

Average catch rates took a step back in a couple areas and improved in others. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 17 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged nine hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 20 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught.

As mentioned above, river conditions were inconsistent last week as multiple weather systems moved through bringing both cold and then warm temperatures to the area. Water temperatures started off the week in the mid-30s, but by Sunday, they had increased back into the low-40s (figure below). River flows also increased over the weekend before starting to go back down the last two days (figure below). The river’s visibility was impacted by the increased flows, but on Sunday, the river was still very fishable with 2-3 feet of visibility around Salmon, ID. Currently, the Salmon River is flowing at 1,080 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 85 percent of average for today’s date.