Payette River fishing guide

Public access & launches

Extensive public bank access along the Payette River, computed from public land ownership and hydrography.

• Birding Island WestIDFG
  Fishing access
• Blacks BridgePayette Cnty
  Boat access
• Birding Island NorthIDFG
  Fishing access
• Plaza Road BridgePrivate
  Fishing access
• Payette Greenbelt PondPrivate
  Fishing access
• Sevenmile SloughIDFG
  Fishing access
• Sheep Camp LandingPrivate
  Fishing access
• Fifty-two BridgeIDFG
  Boat access
• Gem Island Ramp
  Boat access

Regulations

• All species

  Southwest Region general rules apply

• Trout

  Bag

  2

• All fish (netted/trapped)

  All fish so taken must immediately be killed except non-invasive crayfish may be kept alive. Nets and seines may not be left unattended. Traps must be checked at least every forty-eight (48) hours. All traps must have a tag attached bearing owner's name and address, license number, or sportsman identification number.

• All Other Fish Species (includes bullfrogs and crayfish)Upper Snake Region

  Bag

  no bag, length or possession limits

  No bag, length or possession limits

• All Other Fish Species (includes bullfrogs and crayfish)Magic Valley Region

  Bag

  No bag, length or possession limits

• All Other Fish Species (includes bullfrogs and crayfish)Panhandle Region

  Season

  All Waters Open All Year, except as modified in the Special Rule Waters

  Bag

  No bag, length, or possession limits

• All Other Fish Species (includes bullfrogs and crayfish)Southwest Region

  Bag

  No bag, length, or possession limits

• All Other Fish Species (includes bullfrogs and crayfish)Salmon Region

  Season

  All Waters Open All Year

  Bag

  no bag, length, or possession limits

• All species (general statewide)

  Gear

  Maximum of five (5) lines while ice fishing; ice hole opening may not exceed 10 inches in diameter (except Bear Lake cisco)

  Ice Fishing: Fishing through an opening, broken or cut, through the ice. Two-pole permits do not entitle the angler to exceed the five-pole limit for ice fishing.

• Any species (boundary waters)

  Any angler who fishes any water forming an Idaho boundary is entitled to have in possession only the limit allowed by one license regardless of the number of licenses in possession.

As of 2026-08-28.Guidance, not legal advice — always confirm current rules with the state.Official Idaho regulations

What’s in it

Recorded in/near this water. Occurrence-based unless a higher-confidence source is shown — see it per-species in the app.

More Idaho fishing

Idaho field notes

Boise, ID

Boise's Ridge to Rivers: 210+ Miles of Trail Starting at the Edge of Town

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Sun Valley, ID

How to Fish Sun Valley, Idaho: A Beginner's Guide to Silver Creek, the Big Wood River, and Idaho's Premier Fly Fishing

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Backpacking the Sawtooths: Idaho's Alpine Lake Basins, Loop by Loop

Forty-odd named peaks over 10,000 feet, more than 300 alpine lakes, and a wilderness permit that is free and self-issued at the trailhead. No lottery, no reservation, no fee. Idaho's best range asks almost nothing of you administratively and a great deal of you physically.

Anywhere, ID

Tying the Pale Morning Dun: Four Patterns for the Hatch That Humbles Everyone

The PMD hatch turns Western rivers into a clinic in frustration — trout feeding everywhere, refusing everything. Here are four PMD patterns that solve the emerger problem, the cripple problem, the dun problem, and the subsurface problem, with the recipes and the history behind each one.

Island Park, ID

Fly Fishing the Henry's Fork: Railroad Ranch, Box Canyon, and the River That Tests Everything You Think You Know

The Henry's Fork of the Snake River is the most technically demanding dry-fly water in America. The Railroad Ranch section will humble you. The Box Canyon will overpower you. And the hatches will keep you coming back for decades.

Sun Valley, ID

Sun Valley Fishing: Silver Creek, Big Wood River, and the Spring Creek That Changed Fly Fishing

Sun Valley is a ski town with three world-class trout fisheries within 30 minutes — including Silver Creek, the spring creek that helped define modern dry-fly fishing in America.

Payette River fishing — FAQ