• NF CDA - North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

  • Hatches

    Caddis
    Ants / Beetles
    Hoppers

  • The Fishing

    The broken record continues as we have not had any change in weather, rain, etc. It's the dog days of summer so it's pretty much the same thing everyday until the weather shifts!

    The North Fork Coeur d'Alene River is low as it usually is this time of the year. I would also add that it's best not to fish when water temps are above 68 degrees which will be the case right now in the heat during the afternoons and evenings. Mornings will be the only time to fish. Idaho does not "hoot-owl" their rivers like Montana so it's up to you to show the trout some respect and let them be when water temps are not safe. Plus the inner tube hatch will be out late morning and on. Find water with some depth and you will find fish. It's going to be a terrestrial game (hoppers, ants, beetles), caddis, and attractors. Large flies will likely not do well. Smaller is better this time of the year for success. So are longer / finer tippet and leader. The upper stretches will be super skinny. Middle and lower stretches of the drainage are going to have more water volume, but hey it's a free country so feel free to explore where you want!

  • Current Flow

    Prichard = 68.9 ft3/sec

    Cataldo = 273 ft3/sec

    Flow Graph at Prichard
    Flow Graph at Cataldo

  • St. Joe River, Idaho

  • Hatches

    Caddis
    Ants / Beetles
    Hoppers
    Termites (they look like small flying ants)
    PMD's

  • The Fishing

    I (Sean) was out on the St. Joe River yesterday and Mike was out last weekend. Temps are still warm, but the water has started to cool off slightly. Water temps were about 62 degrees in the morning near Avery warming up a few points by afternoon. Better temps are in the near forecast so these might be the final days of super hot weather, fingers crossed. Fishing is pretty decent summer action on the St. Joe River. Mornings might be a mix of fly patterns, anything from small chubbies with droppers worked to purple haze parachutes. We did see some caddis which some fish ate and a few mayflies which appeared to be PMD's (I could never get one in my hand), they also could be Hecubas, which are typical this time of the year. Either way something light color in a mayfly profile can pass. Hoppers with droppers got attention as the day warmed, don't forget to try pink, always a good summer color choice. The best winner of the day was small ant patterns. Little size 20 flying termites (or what we believe to be termites) were out and in big numbers and go fish looking up so very small ants or even stuff like midges/griffiths gnat will work. Trail it behind something you can see like a parachute caddis or small hopper to make life easier.

  • Current Flow

    Red Ives = 59.4 ft3/sec

    Calder = 358 ft3/sec

    Flow Graph at Red Ives
    Flow Graph at Calder

  • Spokane River, Washington

  • Hatches

    Caddis
    Pseudo-baetis

  • The Fishing

    Plugging along as a consistent option this summer. Flows are low but still nice and cold thanks to the aquifer. There’s been an uptick lately in some good dry fly activity on hopper patterns and other low-profile foam dries. I start benching the chubby type patterns this time of year and throw a bug that sits lower in the water and doesn’t have a giant white wing draped over top of it. These trout have seen a couple flies drift over their heads at this point, so giving them a less intrusive option gets more eats and less refusals. Still a few heads up in the mornings in the slow tailouts; these fish are pretty keyed in on micro mayflies but a small ant pattern will fool a few. Long leaders and a downstream presentation is key for this program. Hatches are sparse overall but a few random caddis are out along with the pseudo-baetis.

    The Spokane Valley stretches above Sullivan are extra skinny... if not dry, so focus your efforts below or below downtown.

  • Current Flow

    679 ft3/sec

    Flow Graph at Spokane River - Post Falls
    Flow Graph at Spokane River - Below Falls

  • Miscellaneous

  • The Fishing

    NF Clearwater / Kelly Creek - Access to the upper North Fork Clearwater and Kelly Creek via Superior, MT (Hoodoo Pass), and now including Deception Saddle is CLOSED due to the Moose-Mountain Fire. Access to Kelly Creek and lower NF Clearwater is available from Pierce, ID. Check the Watch Duty App for the latest information.

    Warmwater Species: If you wanna mix things up and pull on a few fish that don’t mind the heat, bass fishing is quite good on many of the lakes and river systems around the area. Largemouth are hanging around any area with deep water access, shade or structure. Smallies love any type of rocky shoreline where they can mow down some crawdads. Topwater fishing can be very effective in the mornings and evenings, so sling some poppers around and get some blowups.

    Kootenai River - the Kootenai is cold and plenty of water. Bo and I have recently fished here. We both had similar experiences, small fish mainly. Not that it's bad, it just seemed a little off for whatever reason on the lower stretches that we fished. Foam bugs like chernobyls, chubbies in various sizes / colors, caddis pupa droppers, hoppers, caddis, and a few pmd patterns all worked. It's an option to fish at least.

    A lot of Montana fishing restrictions have been lifted lately! A good time to get back to exploring.

    Montana Hoot-owl Restrictions website (copy / paste this link):
    https://fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions/waterbody-closures

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