This past week fishing effort began to drop in most areas of the Clearwater River. The Orofino area on river section 03/05 is the area that received the highest amount effort. Water temperatures are dropping into the high 30’s on the main stem and into the 40’s on the North Fork. Anglers reported that they are seeing fish but they are not biting. The anglers who did have success reported that they used jigs with shrimp or shrimp scent. On the North Fork (05) anglers are fishing more around the power line hole and by the boat launch. Effort from the wall and on the bridge has died off. Effort on 04 of the Clearwater was spread out with very few fish reported.
The Salmon River was also seeing less effort this past week and most anglers were fishing around the Riggins area. Due to poor weather conditions the Tailrace of Hells Canyon Dam (02) was not monitored this past weekend.
Overall effort has dropped but catch rates were still good on river section 03 of the Clearwater and river section 11 of the Salmon River. Check the Harvest Report for more details. - Jaime Robertson, Clearwater Region Fisheries Technician