Idaho's Steelhead Update 10/4/2024

Typically, about 80% of the fish destined for the upper Salmon, Little Salmon, and Snake rivers that pass over Bonneville Dam will eventually make it to Idaho. Based on passage data at Lower Granite Dam, it looks like we will see similar survival rates this year. So far, about 33,000 (76%) of these fish have passed over Lower Granite Dam. Right now, these steelhead are spread out in the Snake River from the Idaho/Washington border upstream to Hells Canyon Dam and in the Salmon River from its mouth upstream past the Pahsimeroi River. Catch rates in the Snake River downstream of the Salmon River have been averaging 12-13 hrs/fish which I would classify as "decent" fishing. If you like to fish the Snake River upstream of the Salmon River, fishing has been slow until just last week when we saw catch rates of around 13 hrs/fish. Since the first week of October, catch rates have been good in the lower Salmon River with catch rates averaging around 7-12 hrs/fish. Catch rates in the upper Salmon River have been improving weekly and last week averaged about 17 hrs/fish.

Steelhead Returns to the Clearwater River Basin

Over 36,000 hatchery steelhead destined for the Clearwater River basin have passed over Bonneville Dam this year (see figure below). This return is similar to other great yeas like 2011, 2016, and 2022. Typically, 76% of these fish survive to make it past Lower Granite Dam. To date, over 23,000 Clearwater hatchery steelhead have passed over Lower Granite Dam which is 65% of the Bonneville estimate. Based on the run timing in recent years, we will likely see over 25,000 steelhead (69-70% survival) pass over Lower Granite Dam when the run is over this spring. The lower-than-average survival is not too surprising as the larger the steelhead return is, the more impacts downstream fisheries can have on these fish. Regardless, this return will end up in the top five that we have seen since 2010 and should provide good fishing opportunities throughout the 2024-2025 fall and spring steelhead fisheries.