Steelhead anglers on the upper Salmon River continued having success over the past week. The area with the highest effort and best catch rates was upstream of the Yankee Fork in location code 19. Anglers interviewed in location code 19 averaged 14 hours per steelhead caught and 55 hours per steelhead kept. Anglers were less successful downstream near Challis and Ellis, but steelhead were still caught in these areas. Anglers interviewed upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18 averaged 24 hours per steelhead caught and 49 hours per steelhead kept, while anglers interviewed near Ellis in location code 17 averaged 44 hours per steelhead caught and 109 hours per steelhead kept.
Currently, the Salmon River is flowing at 2,780 cfs which is 169% of average for today’s date. On Sunday the river had cloudy visibility in all areas downstream of the East Fork and clear visibility upstream. Water temperatures were in the low 40s.
As of Thursday, April 13th, the Pahsimeroi Hatchery had trapped 2,829 adult hatchery steelhead, and as of April 15th, the Sawtooth Hatchery had trapped 1,595 adult hatchery steelhead. - Brent Beller, Fisheries Technician, Salmon Region