Locations

Fish species in Idaho

76 species have two or more US observation records in Idaho. Explore their habitats, families, and local records.

76 species have two or more US observation records in Idaho. ITIS calls 25 of them native to the United States, 42 native to part of the country and introduced elsewhere, and 9 introduced.

Species: 76
Freshwater: 76
Saltwater: 11
Survey list: 38

1state

Idaho in the United States.

Two counts, two questions. 76 is the number of species observed in Idaho and filed with GBIF, which includes lakes, the coast, and museum records. 38 is the number the USGS stream survey caught, which samples flowing fresh water only. Neither is the other, so the site never adds them.

The statute

The official state fish of Idaho

Cutthroat trout

Oncorhynchus clarkii · named 1990

gov.idaho.gov

A state fish is a statute, not a survey. It says which fish the legislature chose, not which fish is most common. The list above links each row to the state's own record.

Record fish

Idaho state records

The heaviest fish of each species certified by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, certified weight, game and nongame. Heaviest first. Every figure is the agency’s own.

Species	Weight	Length	Water	Date	Angler
White Sturgeon (Set Line)	675 lb		Snake River	1908
White Sturgeon (Rod & Reel)	394 lb		Snake River	1956	Glenn Howard
Common Carp (archery)	67.65 lb	47	C.J. Strike Reservoir	07/23/2011	Scott Frazier II
Grass Carp (archery)	67.65 lb	49	Snake River	06/8/2025	Riley Farden
Flathead Catfish	58.5 lb	48	Brownlee Reservoir	08/23/1994	J. Newberry/K. McCormick
Lake Trout	57.5 lb	49	Priest Lake	11/14/1971	Lyle McClure
Chinook Salmon (ocean run)	54 lb		Salmon River	1956	Merrold Gold
Grass Carp (rod/reel)	46.7 lb	50	Snake River	10/10/2021	Cris Endicott
Tiger Muskie	44.25 lb	52.5	Little Payette Lake	08/06/2013	Edward Kalinowski
Chinook Salmon (fresh water)	42 lb	41.25	Coeur d' Alene Lake	09/13/1987	Jane Clifford
Northern Pike	40.76 lb	49	Hayden Lake	03/21/23	Thomas Francis
Gerrard Rainbow Trout	37 lb		Pend Oreille Lake	11/25/1947	Wes Hamlet
Rainbow/Cuttroat Hybrid	34.74 lb	41.13	American Falls Reservoir	07/25/2011	Mark Adams
Common Carp (rod/reel)	34 lb	38	Snake River	05/03/2021	Henry Charlier
Channel Catfish	32.9 lb	36.5	C.J. Strike Reservoir	06/16/2022	Cody Kastner
Bull Trout (Dolly Varden)	32 lb		Pend Orielle Lake	1949	Nelson Higgins
Steelhead	30.13 lb	44	Clearwater River	11/23/1973	Keith Powell
Brown Trout	27.31 lb	37	Ashton Reservoir	11/06/2007	Wes Case
Rainbow Trout	20.03 lb	33.5	Dworshak Reservoir	01/13/2026	Todd Phillips
Cutthroat Trout- Bonneville	18.94 lb		Bear Lake	04/30/1970	Roger Grunig
Walleye	17.88 lb	34.5	Oakley Reservoir	9/10/2011	Damon Rush
Ling (Burbot)	14 lb		Kootenai River	1954	P.A. Dayton
Atlantic Salmon	13.25 lb	29.75	Deadwood Reservoir	10/15/1995	Garrett Buffington
Walleye (Archery/Spear)	13.2 lb	30.6	Lake Pend Oreille	7/29/2026	Dennis Haussler
Coho Salmon (ocean run)	11.78 lb	32.68	Clearwater River	10/13/2023	Matt Hosking
Largemouth Bass	10.94 lb		Anderson Lake	10/22/1948	Mary Alice Hurt Taylor
Splake	10.78 lb	28.5	Ririe Reservoir	05/12/2006	Brian Allison
Smallmouth Bass	9.72 lb	23.75	Dworshak Reservoir	10/28/2006	Dan Steigers
Tiger Trout	9.13 lb	27.25	Montpelier Reservoir	06/1/2024	Austin Christensen
Largescale Sucker	9.04 lb	27	Cascade Lake	12/17/2017	Dave Gassel
Northern Pikeminnow	7.89 lb	25.25	Snake River	05/07/2004	Emil Nowoj
Utah Sucker	7.86 lb	25.5	South Fork Snake River	08/20/2011	Rick Thompson
Brook Trout	7.06 lb	23.5	Henrys Lake	08/16/1978	DeVere Stratton
Kokanee Salmon	6.59 lb	24.5	Priest Lake	06/09/1975	Jerry Verge
Whitefish - Lake	6.5 lb	26	Pend Oreille Lake	08/06/2010	Dale Hofmann
Tench (archery)	6.13 lb	22	Priest Lake	07/18/2024	Ryan Gangi
Coho Salmon (fresh water)	6 lb	23.5	Cascade Reservoir	09/19/1992	Ted Bowers
Utah Sucker (Archery)	5.95 lb	23.74	McTucker Creek	05/09/2026	Zachary Liljenquist
Whitefish - Mountain	5.9 lb	22.5	Island Park Reservoir	1997	Robert Hall
Tench	5.32 lb	20.5	Lake Pend Oreille	06/19/2022	Phillip Biggerstaff
Golden Trout	5.13 lb		White Sands Lake	1958	George Wolverton
Sockeye Salmon	5 lb	24	Redfish Lake	08/08/1970	June McCray
Goldfish (archery)	4.9 lb	18.5	Snake River	04/06/2025	Justin Brothers
Tilapia	4.28 lb	16	Swan Falls Reservoir	08/03/2008	Jason Arneson
Bullhead Catfish	3.88 lb	20.5	Brownlee Reservoir	05/25/1986	James Winter
White Crappie	3.8 lb	17.5	Crane Creek Reservoir	07/16/2012	Trenten Smith
Black Crappie	3.56 lb	17.5	Brownlee Reservoir	06/08/2003	Jason Monson
Bluegill	3.5 lb		C.J. Strike Reservoir	1966	Darrell Grim
Yellow Perch	3.22 lb	16.25	Cascade Reservoir	03/09/2021	Adam Mann
Whitefish - Bonneville	3.16 lb	19.5	Bear Lake	12/05/2014	Gaylon Newbold
Cutthroat Trout - Lahontan	3.14 lb	21	Grasmere Reservoir	10/5/2022	Hayleigh Urban
Cutthroat Trout - Yellowstone	3.11 lb	20	Henrys Lake	2/14/2026	Dustin Judy
Utah Chub	2.81 lb	16.7	Lake Walcott	02/07/2010	Alfred E. Woolstenhulme
Grayling	2.44 lb	18.13	Nez Perce Lake	06/21/1992	Velma Mahaffey
Bridgelip Sucker	2.2 lb	17.75	Lemhi River	05/18/2021	Eric Geisthardt
Chiselmouth	1.16 lb	14.25	Salmon River	04/15/2003	Justin Powell
Peamouth Chub (rod/reel)	1.14 lb	14.5	Snake River	03/08/2021	Benjamin Fahnholz
Peamouth Chub (Archery)	1.12 lb	14.5	Snake River	09/13/2022	Matthew Carlson
Bluegill/P-seed Hybrid	1 lb	9.88	Star Lane Pond	05/08/2001	Kevin Graveline
Cutthroat Trout - Westslope	0.95 lb	13.6	Saint Maries River	06/06/2026	Luke Anderson
Pumpkinseed	0.93 lb	9.5	Chase Lake	07/17/2023	James Milton
Green Sunfish	0.67 lb	9	Fernan Lake	06/25/2019	John Moore
Warmouth	0.6 lb	8.75	Snake River	06/23/1988	Marvin Stevens
Bluegill/Green Sunfish Hybrid	0.46 lb	8.4	Star City Pond East	05/06/2026	Lucas Bollman
Redside Shiner	0.08 lb	4.7	Blackfoot River	07/23/2022	Raiden Schneider

Source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game. A row with no link is a name the site holds no species page for, which is usually a hybrid.

Most recorded

The fish of Idaho

The species with the most observation records in the state. It is the closest the open data comes to naming the fish people meet.

Rainbow Trout526 records

Oncorhynchus mykissSalmonidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Brook Trout315 records

Salvelinus fontinalisSalmonidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Brown Trout260 records

Salmo truttaSalmonidaeIntroducedFreshSaltBrackish

Redside Shiner242 records

Richardsonius balteatusLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh

Speckled Dace226 records

Rhinichthys osculusLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh

Smallmouth Bass207 records

Micropterus dolomieuCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh

Northern Pikeminnow162 records

Ptychocheilus oregonensisLeuciscidaeNativeFresh

Mottled Sculpin162 records

Cottus bairdiiCottidaeNative and introducedFreshSalt

Common Carp159 records

Cyprinus carpioCyprinidaeIntroducedFreshBrackish

Mountain Whitefish147 records

Prosopium williamsoniSalmonidaeNativeFresh

Largescale Sucker144 records

Catostomus macrocheilusCatostomidaeNativeFresh

Utah Sucker135 records

Catostomus ardensCatostomidaeNative and introducedFresh

Groups

Types of fish in Idaho

Species

All 76 species, A–Z

A

Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus

B

C

D

Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma

F

G

J

Japanese Weatherfish Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

L

M

N

P

R

S

T

U

W

Y

Yellow Perch Perca flavescens

One record only

15 more with a single record

One observation can be a stray, an aquarium release, or a mis-keyed locality, so these are kept out of the count above and listed here instead. The first 15 are shown.