Northwest River Fishing

Stott’s Fishing Adventures is located in the middle of the best steelhead, salmon, sturgeon, walleye and bass fishing in the world. We make our home in Lewiston Idaho with 2 premier fisheries, the Clearwater and Snake Rivers in our back yard. Our guide service fishes year-round and offers guided trips on the very best rivers and reservoirs. As a matter of fact, we fish in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Northwest river fishing offers diversity and attracts anglers from all over the world. Stott’s fishing guides live throughout Idaho and Washington and make guiding their full-time job.

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Idaho-Washington Fishing

Outdoor Paradise

The Lewiston – Clarkston valley is very much an outdoorsman paradise. Matter of fact, most of our guides have grown up in the valley and still call it home. The Snake and Clearwater join at the town of Lewiston and make up the pool water called the confluence. The Snake River divides Idaho and Washington and dumps into the Columbia River which dumps into the ocean. The towns of Lewiston and Clarkston sit 700 feet above sea level and have very mild temperatures. The region is called the Banana Belt, for its mild winter temperatures and provides us with some great year-round fishing.

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Nearby Activities

Great Family Outdoor Activities

There are many outdoor activities within an hour’s drive as well as our Northwest River fishing. We will be happy to assist in scheduling any of these fun activities for your family vacation. For instance, Guided Fishing, Trail Hiking, Mountain Biking and White Water Rafting is all fun. Because of the rich historical gold panning, Orofino is the place. If that’s not enough, Horse Back Riding, Snowmobiling, Skiing, 4 Wheeling, Camping and Hunting are all close by.

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World’s Largest Steelhead Hatchery

Dworshak National Fish Hatchery

Dworshak National Fish Hatchery is the largest producer of Steelhead and Spring Chinook in the world. The federal hatchery is located in North-Central Idaho at the confluence of the North Fork and main stem Clearwater River, just below the Dworshak Dam. The Dworshak Dam was constructed to block migrating steelhead from their natural spawning grounds. What makes the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery so unique is that the water temperatures are controlled though recirculation which recycles the water to be used, heated to 54 degrees. Juvenile steelhead thrive on the hatcheries water system and can grow to 8 inches in the course of the year. Steelhead that are hatched in the Clearwater take an additional year to reach the same size as there are much colder water temperatures. The Salmon in the hatchery are raised in 40-42 degree water temps and held for 18 months before being released.

Steelhead Return to the Clearwater

The famous Clearwater “B” Run fish return to the hatchery from the Pacific Ocean, traveling more than 450 miles. The Steelhead return in August and spawn from February through April. The Spring Salmon return to the Clearwater in April and spawn from late August to September. The Clearwater will also see a return of Coho Salmon from September through late November and spawning out throughout the season.

Returning “B” Run Steelhead can grow to 25 pounds while living most of the adult life in the ocean. The fish raised in the hatchery are marked in a trailer and a small fin clipped before they are released in the spring. These marks allow for anglers to identify a hatchery fish which is legal to harvest during the sport fishing season.

World’s Largest Hatchery

Each Spring the dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers increase the water flow release to push the smolt downstream to the Ocean. The Steelhead and Salmon Smolt are also barged downstream all the way to the Bonneville Dam on the lower Columbia River. The Dworshak hatchery can produce as many 2 million steelhead smolt in a season. An adult female steelhead can lay 6500 eggs in which 50-60 adult fish return back to the Clearwater 3 years later. Chinook Salmon lay 3000 eggs and only produce 2-4 adult fish returning to the river. Our river is also very fortunate to have the Nez Perce Tribe raise steelhead and salmon at the tribal hatcheries on the Clearwater River.

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World Class Steelhead Fishing

Exclusive River Permits

Orofino is the Northern Boundary of our exclusive permits which allow us to operate our family business on. Pink House is down river from Orofino, and is a popular boat launching spot and fishing hole for the Stott’s crew. Pink House Hole down to the town of Lewiston is the same stretch of water that Lewis and Clark once Navigated in their pursuit of the Pacific Ocean. On our guided trips, you might hear one of Stott’s fishing guides refer to one of the popular fishing holes like Pink House, Magill, Saddle Bags, Peck, Tomahawk, Lenore, Cherry Lane, Gibbs Eddy, and Spaulding. The Spaulding hole was once a wintering location for Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. When enjoying their fishing adventure, many of our guests wonder what it would have been like when Lewis and Clark were making their way down the Clearwater.

Rich Steelhead & Salmon Runs

The entire Stott’s fishing family is very thankful and appreciative for the historical impact that has shaped the Clearwater river’s rich steelhead and salmon runs. We feel it’s our obligation to work with the Nez Perce tribe, Federal, and state hatchery programs to protect our future fishing. We hope you enjoyed the little piece of history that we can add to our adventures.