Priest River Fisheries Science and Research
Priest River historically provided better habitat and angling opportunity for westslope cutthroat trout and other coldwater fish species, but current summertime water conditions are too warm to support coldwater fish species.
Densities of coldwater fish in the Priest River are much lower than other streams and rivers of comparable size and habitat quality.
Research reports and other scientific articles
- 1957: Survey of fishery resources of Priest Lake and its tributaries
- 1974: Priest River fisheries studies
- 1987: Lower Priest River fish and habitat studies
- 1992: Lower Priest River instream flow study
- 1994: Priest River water flow and temperature study (pages 77-85)
- 2002: Priest River fish community study (pages 39-47)
- 2004: Priest River tributary assessment (pages 24-39)
- 2007: Bull trout migration patterns in Priest River Basin
- 2011: Trout surveys in the Priest River (pages 144-148)
- 2018: Priest River water temperature data
- 2019: Priest River fish density estimates
Priest River: A River of Potential
Management Plan
The Fisheries Management Plan provides guidance and policy direction to fishery biologists for each major river basin in Idaho.
Fisheries Management Plan (See page 133 for Priest River) — [2018: PDF, 18.6 MB]