Salmon River Fishing Report
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 […]
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, […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Winter steelhead fishing conditions are in full effect in the Salmon area. The Deadwater ice jam backed up to the Diamond Creek area, though the river has cut down through the jam for several miles, creating an ice canyon. Launch ramps from Tower Creek down are plugged with ice. Ramps upstream are usable. The river […]
Winter has arrived according to the calendar, and we have winter steelhead fishing conditions in the Salmon area. There have been several periods of slush ice flowing, with intervals of clear water. The ice jam has backed up to between the Tower Creek and Red Bluff boat ramps, then cut back down a ways. There […]
Temperatures in the single digits have brought ice to the Salmon River in the Salmon area. Slush ice has been flowing for a couple of days, and steelhead fishing is suspended for the time being. With moderating temperatures the ice will ease off, and we will be able to put boats on and fish for […]
Steelhead fishing conditions in the Salmon area continue favorable, in spite of the the time of the year. It is common for slush ice to begin flowing in the Salmon area by mid-November, but this year the river is still getting into the low 40s. The river has come up a bit, to a strong […]
Steelhead fishing on the Salmon River near Salmon, Idaho, continues to have good river conditions, but mixed success. The river has been unseasonably warm all fall, up in the upper 40s and lower 50s until lately. Yesterday it was 44-45 degrees at the end of a cloudy day–a very good temperature for steelhead fishing, but […]
Steelhead fishing in the Salmon River near Salmon is improving, but is still erratic. There are good days, and some not so good. It seems as if there are groups of steelhead moving through the area, and if you are on the group, fishing is hot, but if you’re between, not so hot. Usually fishing […]
Steelhead are beginning to arrive in the Salmon area. Fishing success will pick up very quickly as more fish reach this section of river. River temperature has dropped to the low 50s. The river is fairly clear, and pretty low for this time of year. There has still not been a hard frost, but cottonwoods […]
This week we finished a trip on the Lower Salmon River, a combination of whitewater rafting and smallmouth bass fishing. Bass fishing was good, with fish in the 16-17 inch range being caught. Size of bass on the Lower Salmon has increased in recent years. In the past, there was a 12-inch minimum to keep […]
Salmon fishing season opens today in the Salmon Idaho area. The river is much lower that average for this time of year, but the Salmon River is carrying a fair amount of sediment, apparently from the East Fork of the Salmon. The number of salmon projected by the Fish and Game department is good, and […]
