Steelhead anglers on the upper Salmon River continued to move further upriver over the past week. The majority of angler effort was observed upstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 19. The second highest amount of effort was seen downstream of the Pahsimeroi River confluence near Ellis, ID. Effort and catch downstream of Salmon, ID in location codes 15 and 16 was similar to the previous week until late Thursday when the river became muddy due to runoff from both the Lemhi River and the East Fork Salmon River. Effort then dropped in these areas over the weekend.
- Anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 6 hours per steelhead caught and 17 hours per steelhead kept.
- Anglers interviewed upstream of North Fork in location code 16 averaged 24 hours per steelhead caught and 97 hours per steelhead kept.
- Anglers interviewed upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17 averaged 14 hours per steelhead caught and 26 hours per steelhead kept.
- Anglers interviewed upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18 averaged 30 hours per steelhead caught and 54 hours per steelhead kept.
- Anglers interviewed upstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 19 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught and 21 hours per steelhead kept.
The Salmon River is currently flowing at 1,400 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 120% of average for today’s date. River conditions have slowly improved since Friday. As of Sunday evening, the river was starting to clear up downstream of the East Fork Salmon River. Additionally, river temperatures were in the low 40s on Sunday afternoon.
As of Sunday, March 25th the Pahsimeroi Hatchery had trapped 620 adult hatchery steelhead, and the Sawtooth Hatchery had trapped approximately 12 adult steelhead. - Brent Beller, Fisheries Technician II, Salmon Region