Steelhead angler effort along the Upper Salmon River increased during the past week. Most of the angler effort was located downstream of Salmon, ID, and the largest increase in effort was observed in location code 16, between the Lemhi River and North Fork.
Catch rates continued to steadily improve, and with increased angler effort, we saw a noticeable uptick in the number of steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork in location code 14 averaged 26 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 24 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 also averaged 24 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 20 hours per steelhead caught.
The weather during the previous week remained unseasonably warm, and although this made for some comfortable days outside, it also kept water temperatures above 50 degrees throughout the week. Currently, the Salmon River is flowing at 1,230 cfs through the town of Salmon, ID which is 94 percent of average for today’s date. The river had clear visibility in all areas over the weekend, and water temperatures on Sunday remained in the low-50s. The forecast is predicting much colder weather for the upcoming weekend which should start to bring water temperatures down closer to average for late October.
Report by Brent Beller | IDFG
