Fishing Report

February 22, 2010 Fishing Report 

IT'S ALL ABOUT STEELHEAD THIS TIME OF YEAR!!

STEELHEAD UPDATE:

Steelhead passed through Lower Granite Dam in record numbers this past fall and at last count the number was over 314,000.  This dam is the upper most dam of the four Snake River dams that our fish must past through on their outmigration and return trip to Idaho.  We enjoyed a few of these fish on the upper river below Stanley last fall and this spring should be one of the best ever with record numbers of fish in the system!

   Call us soon to set up a date for trout, steelhead or salmon fishing.    Call us at (208) 774-8768 Book your steelhead dates early this year as we are headed into some amazing fishing this spring on the upper river.

SALMON UPDATE: Salmon season opened June 20 and closed July 26 this past summer of 2009. If you didn't know it, last year and this year were the first Salmon seasons in over 30 years. Each year, Fish and Game determines the number of available Chinook Salmon that may be harvested. We shouldknow by sometime in May if the numbers are there for a season in our area again this year.  Stay tuned!

General Information

Many of the fish we catch in our area are Westslope Cutthroat, native Rainbow trout and Bull Trout. These fish are native, natural fish and must be released. If you do not practice catch and release and prefer to keep fish, there are rainbows with missing adipose fins which can be kept. If you are fishing the Main Salmon River, please be sure to check the adipose fin and if the fish has one and is not a Mountain Whitefish or Brook trout, it must be released. Please handle it carefully, practice good catch and release techniques and let it go to catch another day. Consider fishing only with a single barbless hook to increase survival rates of the native fish and don't keep the fish out of the water for over 20 seconds or, better yet keep them in the waterl. Hatchery stocked, catch and keep rainbow trout will be missing the adipose fin. Middle Fork tributaries are CATCH & RELEASE only. 

Check the regulation book for exceptions and remember that many fish are protected and cannot be kept. The regulation book tells what can be kept and how to tell the difference.

Give us a call at 208-774-8768 (208-774 TROUT) or email us at info@sawtoothfishingguides.com for an update, for more information or to set up a date to fish with us.  We typically begin guiding steelhead trips in mid March as the fish move towards the upper river to spawn in April.