Updated
Idaho Lakes › Panhandle
Lake Pend Oreille
Idaho's largest and deepest lake, home to summer kokanee, giant Gerrard rainbows and a $15 bounty on every lake trout.
Rainbow Trout
Westslope Cutthroat Trout
Bull Trout
Lake Trout
Smallmouth Bass
Largemouth Bass
Walleye
Northern PikeOverview
Best Season
Kokanee June through August, big rainbows October through April, bass and pike in the bays June through September.
Lake Character
A 43-mile glacial lake over 1,150 feet deep with 144 miles of shoreline, open water that builds real waves in an afternoon wind.
Skill Level
Intermediate to advanced, mainly for boat handling and finding fish on a lake this size.
Best Techniques
Trolling for kokanee and rainbows, streamers and poppers along rocky shorelines and weedy bays for bass and cutthroat.
Boat Access
Public ramps at Farragut Eagle launch, Sandpoint City Beach, Garfield Bay, Hope and Bayview, most free or low fee.
Big Water, Big Rainbows
Lake Pend Oreille covers about 93,000 acres and drops past 1,150 feet, which makes it the fifth deepest lake in the country and a true big-water fishery. Kokanee are the base of the food chain and the summer trolling target. Gerrard-strain rainbows, the "Kamloops" that produced a 37-pound state record, feed on them and are fished by trolling from fall through spring once the surface cools. Smallmouth, largemouth, walleye and pike hold in the bays and river deltas in summer, and that is where a fly rod earns its place, along with cutthroat cruising shallow water in spring and fall. Bull trout and cutthroat are catch-and-release. Rainbows are limited to 2, only 1 over 20 inches, and kokanee to 15. Lake trout, walleye and pike have no limit, and IDFG pays $15 per lake trout head and $1,000 for tagged walleye heads through its Angler Incentive Program. Launch at Farragut State Park, Sandpoint City Beach, Garfield Bay, Hope or Bayview, watch the afternoon wind, and bring a boat built for waves.
Conditions
Live water levels for Lake Pend Oreille from linked gauge stations.
Access
Regulations
No documents attached
Regulation PDFs and lake maps will appear here when published. Always verify current rules with IDFG.
IDFG regulationsGuides & Outfitters
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More photos coming soon
Additional on-the-water photos will appear here as we expand lake coverage.
Helpful Links
Water data is read live and updated regularly. Level and storage trends are calculated from recent daily readings; fields shown as unknown or unavailable have no current data.