salmon-river

Salmon River is a river in Idaho.

It ranks #9 among the 28 waters of Idaho in the registry, and is of regional prominence.

Also called River of No Return and Upper Main Salmon.

Fished for steelhead and trout (inferred from the species listed).

Species: steelhead, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and bull trout.

USGS GNIS record: 400069.

Stretches: Upper Salmon near Stanley.

Access points: Cottonwood Recreation Site and Sawtooth Fish Hatchery.

Confluences: Pahsimeroi confluence and hatchery.

Features: Clayton.

Middle Fork and Main Salmon Confluence (confluence). Shared with the Middle Fork Salmon record (ROW).

It is downstream of Upper Salmon near Stanley.

Sunbeam (feature). It is fishable. Fly Fisherman names the old Sunbeam Dam and hot spring and a fast whitewater section between Sunbeam and Clayton popular with rafters.

It is upstream of Clayton.

Sourced from 5 independent fly sites.

Sources: cdn.orvis.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), diyflyfishing.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), fliesidaho.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), flyfisherman.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), intoflyfishing.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), rowadventures.com, stanleycc.org, visitsunvalley.com and woodriverweekly.com.

Hatches

Golden stonefly

Stage: adult. Well sourced.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun hatching
  7. Jul hatching
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Typically follows the salmonfly by one to two weeks with overlap (IDFG); same June-July window in Fly Fisherman.

Sources: flyfisherman.com, fliesidaho.com, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Salmonfly

Stage: adult. Well sourced.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun hatching
  7. Jul hatching
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Fly Fisherman (2016) puts salmonflies and golden stones in June-July (size 6-10); Idaho Fish and Game says they usually start in mid-June and move upstream with warming water. A DIY Fly Fishing chart says only 'late spring into summer'.

Sources: diyflyfishing.com, flyfisherman.com, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Yellow sally

Stage: adult. Single or templated source.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun hatching
  7. Jul hatching
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Listed by Flies Idaho with the golden stone for June-July.

Sources: fliesidaho.com

Terrestrials

Stage: terrestrial. Single or templated source.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul hatching
  8. Aug hatching
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Fly Fisherman calls them the main summer food; the article says only 'during the summer', so Jul-Aug is an interpretation and the confidence is low.

Sources: flyfisherman.com

Also named, timing not yet researched: Caddis, Mayflies (sparse).

Access, closures and rules change; check with the state agency before you go.