And, of course, big fish swim at your feet. Really big fish. Now link a couple hundred of these holes together, and you have the South Fork of the Clearwater River. For ten days in the fall of 1805, the Corps of Discovery camped along the Clearwater River at the mouth of the North Fork, at what they called the Canoe Camp. Here the men recovered from their arduous journey over Lolo Pass (they walked 160 miles in eleven days), and built five dugout canoes for their journey down the Columbia River.

They also recovered from a terrible affliction: the change in diet from an all meat diet to dried fish and grains caused violent dysentery in most of the men. "Capt. Lewis & myself eate a Supper of roots boiled, which Swelled us in Such a manner that we were Scarcely able to breath for Several hours," Clark recalled. Diarrhea and vomiting ran rampant for ten days. Because the men were so sick, they had little energy for exploring or fishing. Instead, they stayed on the bank of the North Fork, working on canoes and moving as little as possible.

Sadly, of the three forks of the Clearwater River, the North Fork has changed the most. Dworshak Dam,an impassable concrete wall just two miles up from the Clearwater, halted all fish migration and made the North Fork an unchanging tailwater river. The world’s largest steelhead/salmon hatchery sits at the mouth of the North Fork, yearly pouring hundreds of thousands of fish into the river in an attempt to make up for what the dam has taken away.

This hatchery also attracts hundreds of fishing boats during the season, making the river congested. While Lewis and Clark’s North Fork has changed dramatically, the Middle Fork and the South Fork have avoided being buried behind concrete dams and the South Fork is a prime fishing destination.

Where to fish

Where to fish: The South Fork of the Clearwater River.

How to get there: From Missoula, Montana, take Route 12 west over Lolo Pass to Kooskia, Idaho. Take 13 south, following the South Fork for 20 miles. Take a left on Route 14 toward Elk City. Fish the deep holes off of either Route 13 or 14.

What to fish for: Seasonal salmon and steelhead trout, as well as resident rainbow trout.

What to use: Salmon eggs are the most popular bait, either on jigs or below bobbers. For flies, try salmon streamers, egg patterns, and sparse steelhead flies, which are the most common.

Note: You must release all wild steelhead. They can be identified by the distinct presence of an adipose fin. Hatchery fish generally have this fin clipped, so that it is missing altogether or only a small piece of scar tissue remains. The adipose fin is the fin between the dorsal fin and the tail along the top or back of the fish.

Photo: The Clearwater is the main tributary of the Lower Snake River and offers some of the best steelhead and Chinook salmon fishing in the lower 48 states. Photo by Drew Winterer.