Upper Salmon River Steelhead Fishing Report (03-11-2025)

Hi everyone, this is the Upper Salmon River steelhead fishing report for March 11, 2025. The data discussed in this report was collected between Monday, March 3rd and Sunday, March 9th.

Last week was the first week of the spring 2025 fishery where we observed a large increase in angler effort and catch downstream of Salmon, ID. With the Deadwater ice jam opening up last Monday, it gave anglers time to get ready and hit the river by the weekend. The vast majority of angler effort last week was observed downstream of North Fork in location code 15. Angler effort also increased in all other areas of the Upper Salmon River, but not to the same extent as in location code 15. Boat angler effort was spread out between North Fork and Challis, ID, with the highest effort levels observed on Saturday near Salmon, ID. 

Catch rates for last week were the best in location code 15 where interviewed anglers averaged 5 hours per steelhead caught, but catch rates also improved in most other areas. Bank anglers interviewed downstream of the Middle Fork Salmon River in location code 14 averaged 18 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the Lemhi River in location code 16 averaged 13 hours per steelhead caught. Anglers interviewed downstream of the Pahsimeroi River in location code 17 averaged 27 hours per steelhead caught, and anglers interviewed downstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 18 averaged 12 hours per steelhead caught. Angler effort upstream of the East Fork was low throughout the week, but we did interview an angler who reported catching a steelhead in this area which resulted in an average catch rate of 51 hours per steelhead caught.