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Home › Waters › Idaho › Kootenai River
River · Boundary County in the Idaho panhandle, running west from the Montana line at Leonia through Moyie Springs and Bonners Ferry toward British Columbia · Idaho

Kootenai River Fishing Guides

A big, cold, dam-influenced river entering Idaho from Montana below Libby Dam, known for large rainbows and a long, wide, powerful trout fishery.

A river meandering through open sage flats under big sky in the Northern Rockies

Map of the Kootenai River

10 numbered points: 4 access points, 1 campsite, 1 park or conservation area, 3 agency offices, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 16, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (4)
  • Campsite (1)
  • Park / conservation area (1)
  • Agency / conservation office (3)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map
All 10 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1USGS gauge — Kootenai River at Leonia
Station 12305000		USGS gauge48.61688, -116.04919At the Montana line, the top of the Idaho reach.
2The Hemlocks RV and Lodge
Private · near Moyie Springs		Campsite48.70915, -116.12800
3Bonners Ferry Gateway Visitor Center
Boundary County		Agency / conservation office48.69747, -116.31071
4Veterans Memorial Park
City of Bonners Ferry · riverfront		Park / conservation area48.69611, -116.31021
5Bonners Ferry City Launch
Idaho Parks & Recreation inventory		Access / boat ramp48.69821, -116.31221The town ramp. The state inventory leaves the managing agency blank for every Kootenai ramp, so it is not asserted here.
6Bonners Ferry Ranger District
Idaho Panhandle National Forests		Agency / conservation office48.67217, -116.33745
7Deep Creek Launch
Idaho Parks & Recreation inventory		Access / boat ramp48.70710, -116.38455At the Riverside Street bridge over the Kootenai below town.
8Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters
US Fish & Wildlife Service		Agency / conservation office48.70700, -116.41491Refuge headquarters and visitor centre on the west side of the valley.
9Copeland Launch
Idaho Parks & Recreation inventory		Access / boat ramp48.90518, -116.40198At the County Road 45 crossing.
10Porthill Launch
Idaho Parks & Recreation inventory		Access / boat ramp48.99868, -116.50302The last Idaho ramp, right at the Canadian border.

Guides on the Kootenai River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Kootenai River

The Kootenai is a genuinely large river by inland trout standards. It leaves Montana below Libby Dam, crosses into the Idaho panhandle at Leonia where this gauge sits, and runs west through Moyie Springs and Bonners Ferry before turning north into British Columbia and eventually Kootenay Lake. The reach in Idaho is wide, deep and powerful, and the flow it carries is governed by upstream dam operations rather than by local weather, which gives the river an unusually stable and unusually cold temperature profile through the summer months.

That cold stability is why the fishing is what it is. Rainbow trout are the primary target and they grow large in a system this rich in insect life and this consistent in temperature, with the best fish holding in deep runs and along the seams that a river this size creates. Westslope cutthroat and bull trout are present and both carry protective regulations that anglers need to read before fishing. Mountain whitefish are abundant and support their own winter fishery, and burbot restoration in the lower river has been a long-running conservation effort in the basin.

Anglers should treat the Kootenai as a big-water river and plan accordingly. It is fished mainly from boats, wading opportunities are limited to specific bars and edges, and the flow can change substantially with dam operations rather than with rainfall, so the number to check is the release rather than the forecast. This gauge reports water temperature alongside discharge, which is exactly the pairing this river calls for: the temperature confirms the cold-water fishery is holding and the discharge tells you what the boat day is going to look like. It is also worth knowing that the Idaho reach fishes quite differently from the better-known Montana water above it, being wider, slower and deeper, so techniques that work upstream near Libby often need adjusting once the river crosses the state line.

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1. What you give us

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We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Leonia access at the Montana state line - upper Idaho reach access near the gauge.
Moyie Springs river access below the Moyie confluence - established launch and parking.
Bonners Ferry city boat launch - the main developed access on the middle river.
Twin Rivers area at the Moyie mouth - access to the confluence water and canyon reach.
Deep Creek confluence access - lower river access below Bonners Ferry.
Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge access points - lower valley bank and small-boat access.
Copeland and Highway 1 crossings - lowest Idaho access before the Canadian border.

Seasons

Spring: high, cold water governed by dam operations, with fishing improving as flows stabilize into May and June.
Summer: the core season, cold releases keep the river fishing well through the hottest weeks, best worked from a boat.
Fall: excellent dry fly and streamer fishing as flows drop and pressure eases across the valley.
Winter: cold and low, with whitefish the most reliable target and limited trout fishing on mild days.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Kootenai River?

As of Sep 17, 6:15 am, the USGS gauge KOOTENAI RIVER AT LEONIA, ID reads 7,220 cfs, with water temperature 57.7 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Kootenai River?

Anglers target Bull Trout, Burbot, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, Westslope Cutthroat Trout on the Kootenai River in Idaho.

Are there fishing guides on the Kootenai River?

GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Kootenai River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Kootenai River?

Leonia access at the Montana state line - upper Idaho reach access near the gauge. Moyie Springs river access below the Moyie confluence - established launch and parking. Bonners Ferry city boat launch - the main developed access on the middle river. Twin Rivers area at the Moyie mouth - access to the confluence water and canyon reach. Deep Creek confluence access - lower river access below Bonners Ferry. Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge access points - lower valley bank and small-boat access. Copeland and Highway 1 crossings - lowest Idaho access before the Canadian border.

When is the best time to fish the Kootenai River?

Spring: high, cold water governed by dam operations, with fishing improving as flows stabilize into May and June. Summer: the core season, cold releases keep the river fishing well through the hottest weeks, best worked from a boat. Fall: excellent dry fly and streamer fishing as flows drop and pressure eases across the valley. Winter: cold and low, with whitefish the most reliable target and limited trout fishing on mild days.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Kootenai River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Idaho agency site: https://idfg.idaho.gov/rules/fish