south-fork-payette
South Fork Payette River is a river in Idaho. It is a fork of Payette River.
It ranks #13 among the 28 waters of Idaho in the registry, and is of regional prominence.
Fished for trout (inferred from the species listed).
Species: rainbow trout and mountain whitefish.
USGS GNIS record: 390989.
Stretches: Lower South Fork Payette and Upper South Fork Payette.
Access points: Lowman.
Confluences: Banks River Access and Deadwood River Confluence.
Deadwood Campground (access). It is fishable. Boise National Forest riverside camp with river access (Flies Idaho).
Grand Jean Campground (access). It is fishable. NW School: a gravel road follows the river 16 miles 'until the road reaches its end at Grand Jean Campground'.
Helende Campground (access). It is fishable. Boise National Forest riverside camp (Flies Idaho 'Helende'; NW School 'Hellsey'). Also called Hellsey Campground.
Hellsey Campground (access). It is fishable. A Boise-area fly school's article names it as the upper limit of the stretch stocked with keeper-size trout. Single source.
Middle Fork Payette Confluence (confluence). Flies Idaho: the Middle Fork Payette enters in Garden Valley.
It is on the stretch Lower South Fork Payette.
It is upstream of Banks River Access.
Sourced from 2 independent fly sites.
Sources: allsunvalley.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), bluestreamfly.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), fliesidaho.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (retrieved 2026-10-20), my.identafly.app (retrieved 2026-10-20), nwschoolofflyfishing.com (retrieved 2026-10-20) and troutroutes.com (retrieved 2026-10-20).
Hatches
Hatch names known, timing not yet researched.
Access, closures and rules change; check with the state agency before you go.