Steeelhead fishing has started to pick up here in Idaho. With the cooler temperatures and some recent rains the steelhead are on the move. The Steelhead are now being caught throughout the entire salmon river. With the larger B-run steelhead showing up also, things are becoming interesting again.

The Clearwater River is probably your best bet if you are looking for the B-run Steelhead although there are a few showing up on the main stream of the Salmon River. I have caught a couple of the larger b-run fish just below Riggins. I am not sure how far up the river they have made it yet. (So much River to fish and so little time.)

Fall is my favorite time to fish for these magnificent fish. The water temperatures are relatively warm and the steelheads metabolism has not slowed do to the colder water. When you are, fortunate enough to hook into one they give you an excellent battle and as any of you know who have hooked one yourself, this time of year the steelhead become aerobatic when hooked. You can expect them to jump five or six times and they normally clear the water by a foot or more. Not to mention the fact that during this time of year the steelhead are excellent to eat. Your biggest dilemma will be which steelhead you are going to keep and which ones to release.

Drifting a medium sized corky with a small piece of shrimp and yarn has proven to be the most successful for me. However many steelhead anglers here locally are using a float and jig setup and are have good success with them as well. Like always we all have are preferred ways of fishing steelhead and right now, the main thing is just get on the river.

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I thought I would write a quick post today about steelhead fishing at Riggins Idaho.A good friend of mine and fishing partner for over thirty five years called last night to let me know how the steelhead fishing report was on the Salmon River at Riggins.

With the weather as warm as it has been over the last two weeks I thought that the steelhead may be holding up in the river some where. Once again I was wrong according to his report. He fished just below Riggins at the mouth of Race Creek. Which is one of his favorite steelhead hole during the early fall run. After fishing for a little over six hours he hooked four steelhead and was able to land two of them.

They are were what is known as A-run fish the small of the steelhead and the first to arrive here in Idaho. These A-Run fish usually weigh in the 5 to 7 pound range with an average length of about 26 inches. According to what he told me however they were very aggressive fish, jumping and making several good runs on him before he either landed them or they threw the hook.

Four Steelhead in six hours. Sounds like it is time to make trip down to Riggins.

By the way I hear that they are doing very well on the Clearwater too. The upper section of the River remains catch and release only until the 15th of October remember that if you are planning a trip up there.

See you on the River!

Here it is the middle of September and I believe many of us are awaiting the steelhead to arrive in our favorite river. Well there is good news they are nearly here and the numbers right now are looking good too. As of September 14, 2008 nearly 48,000 Steelhead have crossed Lower Granite Dam, which is the last dam they cross before entering Idaho. Compared to 23,000 for the same time last year the numbers look very good. Over the next couple of weeks steelhead fish will be picking up here in Idaho and with some rain forecast for later this week the steelhead will really start to move.

Steelhead anglers are doing well on the lower Snake River and the Lower Clearwater rivers all ready with catch rates in the 6 to 8 hours per steelhead caught. Those are good catch rates for the first part of the steelhead season. With over 2,000 fish per day crossing over Lower Granite Dam it will not be long before fishing gets very hot.

I have heard of a couple of steelhead being hooked on the salmon river near Riggins. Although I have not been able to confirm this I do know that Bass anglers usually catch a few steelhead every year during the early fall. I would imagine that that is what is happening now.

The late summer early fall bass fishing on the salmon river does produce some nice small mouths every year and it is not fished as hard as other spots here in Idaho. So if you want to get out this weekend take along some bass gear as well. Bass jigs work very well for the steelhead as many of you know.

I guess it is time to get out my gear and get it ready for what at this point looks to be an exciting year. Hope to see you on the River shortly.