Middle Fork Salmon River, ID
From confluence to downstream 2 miles
Outing Information
- Date
- Start/End Time
- 1pm to 8pm
- Best Fishing Time
- -
- Rating
- Fair
- Classification
- Public
- Water Temp
- 63.0°F
- Water Clarity
- Clear - 5'+ visibility
- Water Level
- 1.82'
- User
- Jason Hansen
Pictures
Fish Caught
Mountain Whitefish
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 10" | #16 Tan X-Caddis | |
| 5 | 10" |
Cutthroat Trout
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15" | #10 Orange Stimulator | |
| 1 | 12" | #10 Orange Stimulator | |
| 2 | 13½" |
Weather
| Skies | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny | X | X | |
| Mostly Sunny | X | ||
| Precipitation | |||
| None | X | X | X |
| Wind | |||
| Light - 5 to 10 knots | X | X | |
| Heavy - 15+ knots | X |
- Air Temp High/Low
- 90.0°F / -
- Wind Direction
- -
- Weather Front
- -
- Barometer
- -
- Moon Phase
- 41% Full (Waxing crescent)
Other Patterns Tried
No other pattern information for this outing.
Hatches
No hatch information for this outing.
Insect Seining
No seining information for this outing.
Fishing Partners
Karl SlothWaypoints
No waypoints were saved with this outing.
Tides
No tide information was saved with this outing.
Notes
High expectations and a slow day. Karl and I stopped and fished Marsh Creek for about an hour in the morning and he got into some whitefish on top and I caught some steelhead smolt, but no cutts.
We hiked down and camped on a cliff downstream of the Big Hole, fishing that hole and the river downstream of it for about 2 miles. Huh. Whitefish rose, steelhead smolt rose, but only 2 cutts rose all day for me. There was no hatch during the afternoon or evening and thus no fish rising. Karl did get into a 17"-18" cutt and I landed one at 15". I also caught probably 50 juvenile steelhead in the 4"-10" range.
I was very tired and went to bed just before sundown.
The night before Karl and I saw an elk and deer while fishing about 1/2 mile downstream of the parking lot at dusk. We only fished for maybe 15 minutes as it was getting quite dark.
*Update: I talked to Troy about when he fished the MF last year, and he said he did in fact catch lots of cutts and few whitefish. He also fished a week earlier, around July 15th, during a high water year. Karl and I were a week later and fished during a low water year. We were likely 2-3 weeks late for better fishing.
Water level from: MF SALMON RIVER AT MF LODGE NR YELLOW PINE ID