Steelhead fishing on the upper Salmon River continued to improve over the last week. Angler effort and catch increased significantly downstream of North Fork in location code 15. This area had the best catch rate and the highest amount of angler effort over the weekend. Effort near the Pahsimeroi River in location codes 17 and 18 also began to increase but remained low for this time of year.
Anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 7 hours per steelhead caught and 46 hours per steelhead kept. Anglers interviewed upstream of North Fork in location code 16 averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught and 87 hours per steelhead kept. Anglers interviewed upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17 averaged 33 hours per steelhead caught and anglers interviewed upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18 averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught. No angler interviews were obtained upstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 19.
River conditions were good throughout the week. Afternoon water temperatures over the weekend were in the mid to upper 30s, and the visibility was clear. Currently the Salmon River is flowing at 1,120 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 102 percent of average for today’s date.
For a map of code locations see page 40 of the Idaho Fishing rules booklet, and here's more information about steelhead harvests.