Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for March 11, 2025. The data discussed in this report was collected between Monday, March 3rd and Sunday, March 9th.

Last week was the first week of the spring 2025 fishery where we observed a large increase in angler effort and catch downstream of Salmon, ID. With the Deadwater ice jam opening up last Monday, it gave anglers time to get ready and hit the river by the weekend. The vast majority of angler effort last week was observed downstream of North Fork in location code 15. Angler effort also increased in all other areas of the Upper Salmon River, but not to the same extent as in location code 15. Boat angler effort was spread out between North Fork and Challis, ID, with the highest effort levels observed on Saturday near Salmon, ID. 

Catch rates for last week were the best in location code 15 where interviewed anglers averaged 5 hours per steelhead caught, but catch rates also improved in most other areas. Bank anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 18 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 13 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 27 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 18 averaged 12 hours per steelhead caught. Angler effort upstream of the East Fork was low throughout the week, but we did interview an angler who reported catching a steelhead in this area which resulted in an average catch rate of 51 hours per steelhead caught. 

River conditions were good throughout the week. Daily temperatures in the 40s to low-50s with overnight lows below freezing kept the river from becoming muddy and made for some great steelhead fishing weather. Cloudy water conditions were observed during the afternoons in the areas downstream of Salmon, ID, but the river was still very fishable with multiple feet of visibility. Water temperatures on Sunday ranged from the upper 30s above Challis, ID to the low 40s downstream of North Fork, and river flows were near average (see figures below).

Each spring we like to include a figure in the weekly fishing report that shows the number of PIT-tagged steelhead detected at the PIT tag array upstream of Salmon, ID near Elevenmile. This array is designated as “USE” on the PTAGIS website. Below is that figure for this spring’s steelhead run. As you can see, PIT tag detections of adult steelhead have started to increase. In fact, Monday, March 10th had the highest number detected so far with nine tags. We will include an updated figure in each weekly fishing report issued for the remainder of the spring to help keep anglers updated on the steelhead run’s progress upriver. If you would like to read more information about PIT tags and how they are used, then please click this link. If you would like to query these PIT tag arrays on your own using the PTAGIS website, then follow the steps below. Anglers with additional questions are encouraged to call the IDFG Salmon Regional office at 208-756-2271. 

1. Go to PTAGIS.org and select “Observations” in the dropdown menu under “Data”.
2. Under “Select Site”, scroll down and find “USE-Upper Salmon River at rkm 437” to select the Elevenmile site.
3. Choose your desired time period and click “Submit”.
4. The search results will display all the PIT tag detections within your selected time frame.
5. If needed, filter the results by species by selecting a species name under “Tags per Species”.
6. To distinguish between juvenile and adult fish, click on a specific tag code to check the “Complete Tag History”. This will show the species, tagging date, tagging location, and detection history for each tag.

Topics