Salmon River steelhead fishing has been in a slump the last two or three years. Local fisheries biologists put a lot of blame on changing ocean conditions. Ocean temperature cycles affect steelhead and salmon. We apparently have been in an unfavorable cycle for several years, though I’m told the cycle seems to be in an […]
Salmon River snowpack above average in early December: This morning the snowpack in the Salmon River drainage is 110% of average. Earlier it was nearly 200%, after some early storms, but, though diminishing between storms, is still strong. However, it is very early to mean a great deal. Last year at this point our snowpack […]
Ice is flowing down Salmon River in the Salmon area. First ice of the season was last Wednesday, much later than usual. I usually regard ice-free river beyond the 10th of November as bonus time. I have seen ice by the 1st of November on occasion–though the early ice usually doesn’t last long. There are […]
Steelhead fishing is improving in the Salmon area, in spite of the time of year. In many years slush ice is flowing, at least some days, by this time, but yesterday the river was 42 degrees and clear. The volume of the Salmon River at Salmon is about 20% greater than average. Over the years, […]
A catch-and-keep steelhead harvest has been allowed in the Salmon River, beginning on 15 October. The limit will be two hatchery fish per day, one less than recent limits. Apparently increasing numbers of steelhead in the system led Idaho Fish and Game Department to modify the earlier catch-and-release-only regulation. River temperature yesterday at mid-day was […]
Middle Fork Salmon dates for 2018 were available this morning for the post-control season. Aggipah River Trips received the 5th and 16th of September. Dates during the control season, during June, July, and August, are permanently assigned. In that period, we have June 2, 11, and 20, July 2, 11, 20, 29, and August 7 […]
Catch and release fishing for steelhead will be the rule on the Salmon River this fall, according to Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Apparently we are still seeing the effects of the hot spell the end of June of 2015. River volume was low for that time of year, and temperatures were unseasonably hot. […]
The Salmon River snowpack is significantly above average the end of March. Reporting stations in the headwaters of the Middle Fork indicate about 150% of average snowpack for this date. This would suggest that there will be higher than average river flows this summer. Not a guarantee–a warm, dry spring could still change things. The […]
Steelhead fishing is a good news/bad news story in the Salmon Idaho area. Good news is that the Deadwater ice jam has broken out, apparently yesterday, so the steelhead fishing should resume. BLM and IDFG have just finished knocking ice out of all the ramps upstream and including North Fork, except for Bobcat. (The Forest […]
The ice jam in the Salmon River near Salmon is beginning to break up. The last barrier in this section of the Salmon River is the Deadwater ice jam just below North Fork–the first to form in the fall, the last to break out in the spring. Today the upper end of the ice jam […]
Steelhead fishing conditions in Salmon are still difficult. The river is still mostly frozen. In many years the ice is beginning to break up by this time of the winter, but there is little open water in the Salmon area. The ice has filled all boat ramps, so that when the river does open, the […]
The snowpack in the Salmon River basin is a little below average, at 90% this morning, though precipitation since the beginning of the water year on 1 October is above average, at 110%. The fall was so warm that early precipitation was rain rather than snow, so the snowpack was slow to accumulate. Now, we […]
Steelhead fishing is improving in the Salmon area. I expect fish to arrive in the Salmon area between the 15th and 20th of October, but I was losing faith. Fishing has been slow. Today, though, on the 20th, I took a fellow for a half-day, and he got two steelhead, with a third lost. They […]
Fall steelhead fishing season is about to begin in the Salmon area. There have been a few hard-core fishermen on the river, but not many fish stories yet. Arrival of the fall steelhead migration seems to be a little late, but I never expect many fish before the middle of October. Usually during the third […]
Yesterday I had a Salmon River half-day float trip near Salmon, a couple with two little girls in the boat. That section of river does not have whitewater, but is a very scenic float along the cliffs near town. The river is still cold, and the family did not want a couple of drenched little […]
Last week I was on the Lower Salmon section of the Salmon River, with an outfitter/agency group. Enjoying a spring rafting trip on the Salmon River is a perk, though the primary purpose of the trip was to discuss management issues on this section of river, in an on/site setting. Developing better acquaintance with agency […]
Steelhead fishing conditions in the Salmon River near Salmon are improving, but still variable from day to day. Today the river was 41 degrees at mid-day, with a little less that two feet of visibility–not crystal clear, but fishable. Snow is mostly gone off the valley floor, including the Lemhi nearly to Gilmore Summit. As […]
Spring steelhead fishing in the Salmon area is getting started. Ice has been pushed from the ramps between North Fork and Salmon. The Fourth of July site, which is not a developed ramp, is usable, but a length of rope to pull a boat up over an ice slab would be a good idea. […]
Snow pack in the Salmon River basin through most of the winter has been 110-120% of average. Based on snow pack, Salmon River level projection for the summer is average or a bit over–welcome after last summer’s low water. While the current snow pack is encouraging, it is not a guarantee. If the weather is […]
Steelhead fishing at Salmon will pick up soon. The head of the ice jam is below North Fork. Deadwater hasn’t broken out yet, but probably will pretty soon. Idaho Fish and Game and Bureau of Land Management expect to push ice out of the launch ramps from Tower to North Fork in the next few […]
