Steelhead angler effort on the upper Salmon River declined during the past week, but catch rates improved considerably.
The majority of anglers continued to be found downstream of North Fork in location code 15. Angler effort upstream of North Fork was very low throughout most of the week before increasing over the weekend. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 9 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 31 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 20 hours per steelhead caught, and no anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 reported catching a steelhead.
River conditions were stable throughout the week. The river’s visibility remained at 3-4 feet, and water temperatures slowly increased from the mid-30s on Tuesday to the low 40s on Sunday. Currently, the Salmon River through the town of Salmon is flowing at 1,140 cfs which is 88 percent of average for today’s date.