snake-river

Snake River is a river in Idaho.

It ranks #18 among the 28 waters of Idaho in the registry, and is of regional prominence.

Also called Lower Snake.

Fished for trout, warmwater and steelhead.

Species: rainbow trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass, common carp and steelhead.

USGS GNIS record: 1533479.

It shares a watercourse with Snake River, Wyoming.

Stretches: American Falls Tailwater and Hells Canyon.

Access points: Massacre Rocks and Pittsburg Landing.

Confluences: South Fork and Henrys Fork Confluence.

Features: American Falls Dam and Hells Canyon Dam.

Hells Canyon Creek (access). It is launchable. Hells Canyon Creek Recreation Site, about three-quarters of a mile below the dam: the launch for float trips (Forest Service) and a named jet-boat launch (Sportfishingreport).

It is on the stretch Hells Canyon.

It is upstream of Pittsburg Landing.

Bell Rapids (access). It is fishable. Tourism-office page describing a BLM recreation stop on the Snake in the Hagerman Valley area as a popular fishing stop that can be good for trout, with fly anglers typically using leech or nymph patterns. Same page lists the site as free and daylight-use. One non-shop source; exact river position not given.

Brownlee Reservoir (feature). It is fishable and launchable. Impoundment on the Idaho-Oregon border. Flylords: smallmouth are the main draw, May and June the main months, poppers and crawfish patterns, best from a boat. Idaho Fish and Game biologists (2017) call it one of the better smallmouth fisheries in the West but say nothing about fly anglers. Stillwater, single fly-press source. Shared with the Oregon side.

Grande Ronde River Mouth (confluence). It is fishable. Fly Fisherman (1977 text): about 30 miles of public water along the road near the Grande Ronde junction, a free public campground and boat launch there. Washington/Oregon boundary area; age of the description should be treated with caution.

It is on the stretch Hells Canyon.

Heller Bar (access). It is launchable. Last public launch on the canyon float (river mile 168.5, Forest Service). Fly Fisherman (1977 text) describes the Heller's Bar resort with guides, jet boat and dock. Washington side; shared with the Washington record.

It is on the stretch Hells Canyon.

Pipeline Access (access). Named by IDFG (Nov 2025) as the downstream end of a planned electrofishing survey below American Falls Dam. No fly source describes it; kept because IDFG uses it as the access landmark on this reach. Affordances not stated.

It is on the stretch American Falls Tailwater.

Float: Hells Canyon, from Hells Canyon Creek to Pittsburg Landing, 31.5 miles.

Sourced from 6 independent fly sites.

Sources: flyfisherman.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), flylordsmag.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (retrieved 2026-10-20), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (2) (retrieved 2026-10-20), jeffcurrier.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), jeffcurrier.com (2) (retrieved 2026-10-20), jhnewsandguide.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), mountainriveroutfitters.app.resmarksystems.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), Orvis (retrieved 2026-10-20), recreation.gov (retrieved 2026-10-20), sportfishingreport.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), vimeo.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), visitsouthidaho.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), visitsouthidaho.com (2) (retrieved 2026-10-20), visitsouthwestidaho.org (retrieved 2026-10-20) and wetflyswing.libsyn.com (retrieved 2026-10-20).

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