This report comes from Amy Sinclair at Exodus, reporting on the latest steelhead fishing news; should've been there!
Greetings from Riggins! This is the November 22nd to November 28th steelhead fishing report from the Salmon River.
This week’s biggest fish, caught by Exodus guest Howard Henning from Boise, was a big beautiful 34” native fish. Howard was fishing with drift boat fishing guide, Brad Sawyer on Monday November 23rd. Congratulations Howard! And Exodus guests Jeff Clifford of Boise and Jim Nixon of Oakdale Ca, are currently holding 1st and 2nd places in the Riggins Steelhead Fishing Derby. Jeff, having fished with drift boat guide Brent Sawyer on October 31st, is leading with his big hatchery fish measuring 33.5” and Jim, having fished with drift boat guide Shane Harper on November 14th, is right behind with his big hatchery fish measuring 32”. Way to go boys!
As of this morning water flow is 4590 CFS and has been slowly going down all week until this morning. This morning we saw a slight bump upwards in the water level attributed to yesterday’s rain. However the river forecast is predicting the water flow staying level for the week ahead of us. The river is crystal clear and water temperature is 37 degrees and has been holding steady at 36 degrees all week; however milder temperatures enjoyed during the middle of the week brought the water temperature up 1 degree for the weekend. Our week of weather has been typical to Idaho; sunny, slightly overcast, windy, calm, rainy, with mild temperatures. The week ahead is predicting mostly sunny skies with a little moisture expected Monday night and Tuesday. Expect nights and early mornings in the low 30’s and afternoon temperatures to reach the upper 40’s to low 50’s.
With water temperatures holding in the mid to upper 30’s, the fish are starting to drop into the deep slow pools and most of the guides are finding the truck and trailer, drifting bait or the use of floats and jigs are the most productive techniques at this time. Fishing is still awesome and this is the season that fisher people dream of. This week’s averages are: hook up average 3.28 per person per day and boated/catch average 2.28 per person per day.
We offer our charter steelhead fishing trips by drift boat or jet boat based on your fishing party size and trips include experienced guides, lunch, snacks, beverages and all fishing equipment. For more information or to book your guided steelhead fishing trip contact our office at 1-800-992-3484 or email us at riverescape@frontier.com.
We look forward to fishing with you on the Salmon River this 2009-2010 Steelhead Fishing Season during one of the best steelhead runs recorded.
