Salmon River Steelhead, December 7th, 2024

Thanksgiving week was the coldest week so far on the Upper Salmon River this fall, but despite the chilly temperatures, steelhead anglers were still having success downstream of Deadwater in location codes 14 and 15. The fishing was much tougher upstream of Deadwater though because the slush (or frazil) ice started flowing on Friday.  

Catch rates last week remained good downstream of North Fork. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 8 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of North Fork in location code 15 averaged 9 hours per steelhead caught. 

Few interviews were obtained from anglers fishing upstream of North Fork in location codes 16 and 17. One angler reported harvesting a steelhead in location code 16 which produced an average catch rate of 52 hours per steelhead caught., and no anglers that were interviewed upstream of the Lemhi River in location code 17 reported catching a steelhead.  If you have questions about steelhead fishing here,, call the Salmon IDF&G Salmon office at 208 756-2271.