The Deadwater ice jam is out.
Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for March 4, 2025. The data discussed in this report was collected between Wednesday, February 26th and Sunday, March 2nd.
The first thing I wanted to mention in this week’s report is that the Deadwater ice jam opened up on Monday, March 3rd. With the ice jam now opened up, the shore ice and few remaining ice bridges downstream of Deadwater should clear out quickly.
IDFG creel personnel began interviewing anglers between Corn Creek and Challis, ID last week. Angler effort downstream of Deadwater in location codes 14 and 15 was low, mostly due to the muddy river conditions that area experienced prior to the ice jam opening up. Angler effort upstream of Deadwater in location codes 16 and 17 was relatively high for this time of year. The highest effort levels were observed on Saturday as many boat anglers got out on the water to take advantage of the warm weather.
Average catch rates last week varied considerably between areas. Anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location codes 14 and 15 were dealing with muddy water that made the fishing difficult. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 did not report catching a steelhead, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 41 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 also averaged 19 hours per steelhead caught. Few interviews were obtained from anglers fishing upstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 18, and no anglers reported catching a steelhead from that area.
River conditions were mixed last week due to the last of the ice jams that were still in place. As mentioned above, the river below Deadwater had poor visibility all of last week. Now that the ice jam has opened up, we expect conditions to quickly improve. In addition to improved clarity, water temperatures are also rapidly increasing in this area (see figure below). River conditions from upstream of Deadwater to the Pahsimeroi River were more favorable for fishing last week. The river was cloudy most days in this area with between 2-4 feet of visibility, but it remained very fishable. Water temperatures in this area were also getting up into the upper 30s or low 40s in the afternoons. Upstream of Challis, the river still had some ice jams remaining in place last week which caused reduced visibility as they were receding. These jams have also now opened up, so we expect river conditions above Challis to also improve considerably moving into this coming weekend.
The last thing we wanted to mention in this week’s report is the status of boat ramps. IDFG Screen Shop employees opened up all boat ramps between Carmen Creek and North Fork on Monday, March 3rd. Additionally, all the boat ramps from Salmon upstream to Watts Bridge are also usable.
