Elk Creek Reservoir in Clearwater County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Elk Creek Reservoir in Clearwater County, Idaho. This is rolling hill country. Surface area is around 80 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. The edge runs 2.3 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Size puts it in the front rank of our Clearwater County list. Nearest place of any size is Orofino, 21 miles away. It is 85 miles to Spokane, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Elk Creek Reservoir

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Fish documented in Clearwater County include rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and Chinook salmon. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Elk Creek Reservoir repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 26°F and August at about 63°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Ice comes and goes from one year to the next. In a normal year the cover is thin and short-lived. Autumn steadies things again once the heat lets go. That shapes the year on Elk Creek Reservoir.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. A slipway is marked about half a mile from here. The nearest car park is 140 yards from the water. There is a pier recorded roughly half a mile away. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Public toilets are recorded roughly 150 yards off. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Dworshak Reservoir, 11 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Elk Creek Reservoir in what we hold.