See every public fishing venue in Idaho on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
South Fork Clearwater River is a public river in Idaho County, Idaho, managed by Idaho Department of Fish and Game. You can fish it on an Idaho fishing licence (steelhead and salmon need separate permits). The Idaho stream-access law lets the public use the bed and banks of a navigable stream below the ordinary high-water mark regardless of who owns the adjacent land; on non-navigable water, check current signage or ask permission. Public access confirmed via IDFG public hydrography + access site.
An Idaho anadromous river (the Salmon — the 'River of No Return' — the Clearwater, and the lower Snake) — the longest steelhead and Chinook salmon migration in the Lower 48, with seasons and permits set annually; also cutthroat, rainbow, bull trout and smallmouth bass.
It runs roughly 66 miles through the Clearwater region. Anglers here mostly fish for bull trout, chinook salmon, coho salmon, pacific lamprey; steelhead, westslope cutthroat trout are also on record. Live flow and gauge height come from the Sf Clearwater River At Stites Id USGS station shown below. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Little Medicine Creek and Ralph Smith Creek.
Species from PiscaMaps water-type profiles, Idaho Fish and Game trout-stocking records and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Idaho; many rivers and streams have a Memorial-Day-weekend-to-November 30 general season, and steelhead/salmon/sturgeon water is open only by annual rule — check the current IDFG fishing seasons and rules for this water.
Boats: Most Idaho trout streams are waded or floated by drift boat or raft; the big lakes and reservoirs (Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, Cascade, Dworshak, American Falls) take a trailered boat via a state or Forest Service ramp; alpine lakes are hike-in float-tube water.
Bank & bivvy camping: Idaho is about 63% federal land — dispersed camping is allowed on most BLM and Forest Service ground along these waters. Idaho's stream-access law also lets the public use the bed and banks of a navigable stream below the ordinary high-water mark regardless of adjacent ownership.
Tackle: Idaho's general trout limit is 6, but a large number of waters are managed as wild-trout, quality, trophy or catch-and-release with reduced limits and gear restrictions; bull trout are catch-and-release statewide and steelhead/salmon need separate permits and annual seasons. Check the current IDFG rules for this water.
Boat ramps: 1 mapped — Kooskia Bridge Boat Ramp.
Camping: 10 sites mapped nearby — Jungle Creek Campground, Harpster RV Park, Nelson Creek Campground, South Fork Group Site 5 - Nez Perce NF (ID), Castle Creek Campground, Meadow Creek Campground and others.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Loading live flow & gauge height…
Live from USGS gauge 13338500 — Sf Clearwater River At Stites Id. Full gauge data →
Anyone 14 or older needs an Idaho fishing licence — the resident annual is about $30.50, the non-resident annual about $98.25 (Idaho's non-resident fee is one of the highest in the country), with a non-resident 1-day (~$23.50) plus $6/consecutive-day option. Steelhead and salmon each need a separate permit. Idaho residents 65 and older buy a reduced-fee licence; under-14 fish free with a licensed adult. Buy from IDFG at idfg.idaho.gov. An Idaho fishing licence covers this water — it is on IDFG's public-waters hydrography (steelhead and salmon each need a separate permit).
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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