Upper Salmon River Steelhead Update - 11/07/2023

Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for November 7, 2023. The data for this report was collected between Monday, October 30 and Sunday, November 5.   

Steelhead angler effort on the upper Salmon River remained relatively high during the past week. Most anglers were observed downstream of Salmon, ID in location codes 15 and 16, and the largest increase in effort was observed upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17. 

Catch rates showed a modest improvement over the previous week, with all monitored areas averaging at or below 20 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 19 hours per caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 20 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 12 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 13 hours per steelhead caught. 

Weather and river conditions were excellent early in the week, but rainy weather began moving through the area on Thursday which resulted in increased flows and decreased visibility over the weekend. On Sunday, the river had cloudy visibility in all areas, and water temperatures had increased back into the mid-40s (shown in picture below). 

Anglers that like to track river flows should be aware that a construction project near the Lemhi Hole is now impacting flow readings at the USGS site in Salmon, ID. Until the construction project wraps up, anglers can obtain accurate flow readings for the Salmon River by checking the USGS gauge near Shoup. As of today, the Salmon River at the USGS gauge near Shoup, ID is flowing at 2,480 cfs which is 124 percent of average for today’s date.