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

Hatches

Caddis
Golden stones
PMD's
Drakes
Yellow sallies
Carpenter ants

The Fishing

Everything has stayed pretty consistent over the last week up here. Some variable weather patterns have been rolling through the area lately, which can definitely throw off the fishing at times but overall things have been good. On the cooler days, expect hatches to be light until it warms up. On the flip side, warm days can have fish more active during the low light hours, especially evenings. Mornings will be best with a dry-dropper combo, switch out for a single dry rig when the hatch of the day gets fish up rising. Still plenty of variety for bugs. Green Drakes, Grey Drakes, PMDs. Caddis, Yellow Sallies, Golden stones and some ants should cover everything else. We are quickly approaching, if not already into the “rubber hatch” time of year. Expect to see innertubes and other recreation floaters on the mid and lover stretches of the North Fork CDA.

Current Flow

Prichard = 230 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Prichard

Cataldo = 1420 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Cataldo

St. Joe River, Idaho

Hatches

Salmonflies
Golden stones
Yellow Sallies
Drakes
Caddis
PMDs

The Fishing

Some mixed reports from the Joe recently, the funky weather patterns this past week seemed to throw fishing off some days. Hatches were sparse overall apart from some caddis, especially higher up the system. Flows have also fluctuated a bit, generally I don’t worry about small bumps like we’ve seen but every day can be different. As the weather and water stabilize, it’ll be right back to good fishing throughout the river. Hatches will be similar to the CDA system going forward, maybe a bit longer for the green drakes to really get going. Dry-droppers will get it done just fine when fish aren’t rising consistently, I’d try some golden stone style dries with a caddis or mayfly nymph dropper.

Current Flow

Red Ives = 1030 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Red Ives

Calder = 3680 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Calder

Miscellaneous

The Fishing

Sean fished the Clark Fork earlier this week and caught a stellar window of river conditions and happy fish. Flows have since come back up quite a bit, so may be a few days before this drops back to a good level.

Lakes are still good for trout and bass. Not nearly as many fly anglers on the lakes this time of year with all of the rivers fishing well. On the right days there are still plenty of good opportunities, I’d expect the warmer days to be a bit slow for trout. Start thinking about the morning and evening program for stillwaters.

Spokane River, Washington

Hatches

n/a

The Fishing

In a nutshell, fishing has been great! Everyone has had a chance to get out since opening day last Saturday. All of the usual suspects are getting it done for bugs. Dry-dropper rigs with a chubby chernobyl and caddis nymph dropper are always a safe bet. Double nymph rigs will get it done too, a large stonefly nymph paired with a caddis nymph is a good starting point. Streamer fishing can be very good this time of year when fish are tucked into the willow pockets. Flows are still pretty pushy for a lot of the good wading spots, but with some caution and creativity you can find a few fish in the soft margins near shore. There’s been some excellent caddis hatches, especially in the evenings, which can offer some fun head hunting opportunities right before dark.

Current Flow

5830 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Lower River / Post Falls

Steelhead Rivers

The Fishing

A few of the guys went down to the lower Grande Ronde last week and hammered on some smallies. They found fish on smolt colored streamers, craw patterns and even had some good topwater fishing. There’s usually a few carp cruising around here too if you wanna mix things up.

Current Flows

Grande Ronde River at Troy - 3390 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Troy

Snake River at Anatone - 49500 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Anatone

Clearwater River at Spalding - 23900 ft³/sec
Prediction Flow - Spalding