Palouse River
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Regulated stretches: see the pamphlet rules below
Adams/Franklin/Whitman County · River · WA
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from WA's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
- All speciesColumbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement (CRSSE) required for salmon and steelhead fishing (ages 15 and older).
- All speciesJune 16-Aug. 31Two-Pole allowed. Except: It is not permissible to fish with two poles for steelhead.
- TroutSat. before Memorial Day-Oct. 31Statewide min. size/daily limit.
- TroutNov. 1-Fri. before Memorial Day (dates as written)Closed.
- Steelhead (hatchery)Apr. 16-July 31Closed.
- Other game fishYear-roundStatewide min. size/daily limit.
- Steelhead (hatchery)Aug. 1-Apr. 15 (out of season today)Min. size 20”. Daily limit 3.
- All game fishYear-roundStatewide min. size/daily limit.
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- Saturday before Memorial Day through Oct. 31Statewide
- Gear
- One line, up to 3 hooks; barbed or barbless; single, double, or treble hooks allowedStatewide
- Bait
- Allowed. Chumming prohibited unless a water's special rules permit itStatewide
- Poles
- 1 pole. A two-pole endorsement covers lakes and ponds only.Statewide
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Trout | 2 | min. 8" | Statewide |
Steelhead Release all wild steelhead. | 2 | min. 20" | Statewide |
Whitefish | 15 | - | Statewide |
Bass (largemouth and smallmouth) No size restriction or daily limit in rivers, streams, and beaver ponds. | No limit | - | Statewide |
Walleye No size restriction in rivers and streams. | No limit | - | Statewide |
Channel catfish No min. size in rivers and streams. | No limit | - | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
- mouth(mouth terminus (adjacent named water))
- the base of Palouse Falls(falls: not found near line)
0 of 2 stretch boundaries resolved to points on the line (failed). Landmark pins are approximate where the law names a landmark; confirm posted boundaries at the water. Unresolved ends stay open rather than guessed.
Season at a glanceDerived
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Streamflow: 3.48 cfs at palouse river nr potlatch, id (2026-07-28 23:30)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Palouse River's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
You also need (Washington)
- Fishing license. Everyone age 16 and older needs a fishing license. Under 16 fishes license-free.
- Catch record card. Required for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and halibut, at every age including under 16. Electronic catch record cards are available in the MyWDFW and Fish Washington apps. Where a water's pamphlet entry shows a CRC code, record your catch against it.
- Two-pole endorsement. Lets you fish a second pole on most lakes, but only where the water's rules honor it. Lake Washington, for example, does not.
- Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement. Required for salmon and steelhead fishing on listed Columbia basin waters (ages 15 and older). The pamphlet entry says so where it applies, for example the lower Yakima River.
- On this water: record salmon and steelhead on your catch record card under code 652.
- On this water: parts of this river require the Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement; the stretch rules above say where.
Checked against WDFW fishing licenses and catch record cards on July 2, 2026.
Receipts
Local services near Palouse River
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Palouse River? Get listed.