Upper Salmon River Steelhead Fishing Conditions Report (1/31/2024)

Hi everyone,

With the recent warm weather, we wanted to send out an update about river conditions on the Upper Salmon River as we move into February. This report is based on observations from Tuesday, January 30th.

The first thing to touch on is the status of the Deadwater ice jam. As of Tuesday, January 30th, the ice jam was still in place, but it had opened up down to North Fork, and the ice was beginning to slump in areas below North Fork too. Looking at the weekend forecast, there is a decent chance that it may completely open up by next week, but it is difficult to predict. It’s also so early that even if it does open up, there’s a possibility it could freeze again in February. We’ll send out a separate report to notify anglers as soon as it completely open up.

The river’s visibility below Deadwater has been poor for the past few days, and it will likely stay that way until either the ice jam opens up or colder weather moves back into the area. Additionally, there are still numerous ice bridges set up between Pine Creek and Panther Creek. Below Panther Creek, most of the ice bridges have cleared, and there is only snow in shaded areas. Shore ice is present in most areas, but it is minimal for this time of year. 

River conditions from the upstream extent of the Deadwater ice jam to the Pahsimeroi River confluence have been favorable for the past week. There is little snow, and the shore ice has melted away. This is also the area where we have observed the most fishing effort since the warmup began.

Upstream of the Pahsimeroi, river conditions have been less stable due to numerous ice jams melting out. Similar to below Deadwater, poor visibility and lingering shore ice are impacting many of the fishing holes. Conditions in this area should improve relatively quickly as the ice continues to melt off over the next few days. 

We are still a couple weeks out from starting our spring creel, but with how the river was fishing last fall, we expect the good fishing to pick right back up as soon as river conditions allow. 

The last thing we wanted to mention for this report is that all boat ramps from Deadwater upstream to Red Rock are currently unusable due to the ice left behind from the ice jam. The Tower Creek ramp is usable, but the Morgan Bar ramp is also blocked due to ice. All other ramps from Carmen Creek upstream to Ellis are usable. The only other ramp that is currently inaccessible in this area is the Island Park boat ramp in Salmon, ID which is closed due to an ongoing construction project by the City of Salmon.