tailwater · trout · whitefish

Kootenai River (below Libby Dam)

Live conditions for Kootenai River (below Libby Dam): the gauge, the water temperature, the trend, and what the water is doing today — read the way a guide reads it.

Right now

4,260cfs→ lowfishable

Inside the wade band, stable low · 0% over the last 6 hours.

Water temp—

Stage17.88 ft

Engine callGO 4280 cfs in the wade band

Gauge read 8:00 AM CDT · USGS 12301933. Readings refresh every few minutes.

The water

Kootenai River (below Libby Dam) is a tailwater below Libby Nr Libby Mt in Whitefish, fished for trout, whitefish — rainbow, cutthroat, bull. On dam-controlled water the generation schedule is the whole story: the wade window is the no-generation block, and rising water at the gauge means the pulse is arriving.

troutwhitefishrainbow troutcutthroat troutbull trout

Wade and float bands in cfs, the safety notes and the 14-day trend are on the signed-in river page.

Access

Libby Dam Tailrace Put-inramp
Highway 37 Bridge / Fisher River Confluence Accessbridge
Osprey Landingramp
Blackwell Flats Wade Accesswalk in
Libby Riverside Park Boat Rampramp
California Street Bridge Launch (Libby)bridge
Bighorn Terrace Take-outwalk in
China Rapids Accesswalk in

Directions to the put-in or wade access ride on every briefing.

The briefing

Know before you drive to Kootenai River.

Every morning OUTFISH reads this gauge, the dam schedule, the water temperature, the sky and the tips library, and writes one plain-language call for the waters you track: go or stay home, wade or float, when to be on the water, where to put in, what to tie on — with directions.

Start free — 7 days of Guide

Signed in: the wade and float bands, the full hatch calendar, safety notes, the 14-day trend, shop reports and today's briefing for this water.

This month

Active in October:

012345678

The full calendar by month, with notes, is on the signed-in river page.

Verify it yourself

The same sources the engine reads, straight from the agency:

USGS gauge ↗

More water in Whitefish

Flathead River (Columbia Falls)