Salmon River muddy–8 March 2014

The Salmon River near Salmon had about 6 inches visibility at mid-morning, river temperature about 37 degrees. Sky is clear, so by late afternoon river temperature will probably exceed 40 degrees. Air temperature this morning was mid-20s, so overnight runoff was stopped, but as the day warms, snowmelt will resume. The river would take a period of time to flush even if snowmelt ended. There is still a lot of low snow, so I think dirty water will continue for a while. But–the river is warming, which will start fish moving up from downstream. When the river clears, we should have fish in the Salmon area. In many springs when the river is clear in early March, it is so cold that the migration hasn’t started, and success rate is poor anyway. So–hopefully the river will become fishable in a few days, and steelhead will be here.