Salmon River fishing report - first day of spring 2017

A few weeks ago it seemed as though winter had retreated until the end of next November but last week it came back with a reminder of what awaits in a few months.  The Salmon River area went from bare ground to about 2 feet of fresh snow in a day.  It could have been worse had it come from the west but being a nor'easter the south and eastern parts of the state got it hardest, 3-4 feet in some areas that normally see no more that than all winter.  But the river and roads leading to the river are open and the fishing is good.

For the last month we have been fishing around 2100 cfs. with a steady release between 1600-1700 cfs.  As I write this report the release is 750 cfs. and the gauge at Pineville is reading a comfortable 1040 cfs., expect it to hang around this number for a while.  Temperatures are still in the teens and low twenties at night so thing are melting slowly, for now.  If the melt down and spring run-off go as normal we should hit our highest flows about the 2-3rd week of April.

Steelhead have been spawning in good numbers for about 3 weeks now and we should see thing continue to heat up in the next few weeks.

Tight lines