Hello, I have a couple of questions
1. When do steelhead and chinnock typically reach the Stanely area on their respective runs in the upper Salmon River?
2. Are you allowed to catch and release them in this area and/or above the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery?
3. Do you see them in those upper lakes in such as Redfish, Alturus or Pettit or in the steams in or out of those lakes?
Thanks,
Daniel Roper
406-514-0084
Answer:
There are a number of variables that effect when salmon and steelhead arrive in the Stanley Basin. Flow, temperature and downstream fish passage conditions are the most common environmental conditions that can alter arrival by 2 - 3 weeks.
The Stanley area has both spring and summer run Chinook. They typically don't arrive until mid-July. There are few Stanley Basin steelhead and no fishing open above the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. Most steelhead begin arriving in mid to late October in the Salmon/Challis area and will stage in the main Salmon River over the winter and move into the tributary streams in March and early April to spawn.
It is illegal to fish for salmon and steelhead when the area is not open for those species. That includes catch-and-release fishing.
Chinook salmon and steelhead do not use those upper basin lakes. The only anadromous fish found are sockeye which need the lakes for an important part of their lifecycle. Hopefully, we will have a sockeye fishery in Idaho wtihin the next 10 years on hatchery produced fish.
Answered on:
Monday, September 28, 2015 - 7:40 AM MDT