Fishing Reports and Flows

Spokane River, Washington

Hatches

Caddis
Hoppers

Flies

Clodhopper - red, pink
Mongo Hoppers - peach, tan
Chubbies - Royal, purple
Jig Hare's Ear Soft Hackle
Peacock Soft Hackle
Jig Prince
BH Batman
Partridge Caddis Pupa
Peacock Red Butt Soft Hackle

The Fishing

Took advantage of the change in weather yesterday and did some fishing on the upper Spokane. The trout agreed the weather change was good. The jigged hare's ear dropper under a chubby chernobyl found some nice redbands for Jennifer right out of the gate and I did well swinging soft hackles (large beadhead caddis pupa trailed by a smaller soft hackle). A small, short 2" strip with the soft hackle seemed to do really well to entice more fish. For fishing mid day and just for a couple hours it was pretty solid.

The guides the last few days said the fishing has been decent for them as well. Most fish have either been on the dropper below a hopper/chernobyl or on the nymph rig. No rhyme or reason to which flies have been the producers, somedays the larger pats stones or twenty inch jigs... somedays you can't buy a fish on those and it's all on the smaller caddis pupa or attractor nymphs. Some days you can get some eats on the surface mid day, but usually it's later evening the past week. That's fishing.

Water Cond

Nice summer level.

Current Flow

1190 ft³/sec

North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Hatches

Hoppers
Ants

Flies

Ants
Hi-Viz Spinner
Small chernobyls
Beetles
Pink Pookie
Black Magic
PMX Yellow
Hoppers - we got hoppers! Morrish hoppers, mongo hoppers, clodhoppers...

Droppers under dries
---------------------------
physco prince yellow, lightning bugs, bh flash pt's, prince nymphs

The Fishing

Not much new to report from the NF Coeur d'Alene River. Early mornings on the the lower to mid river will be best with a hopper, ant, or beetle. Small attractors or a purple haze will find fish in slower water that has depth. Tuber emergence is around 11am and will ruin the fishing experience (sorry if you like to tube, actually wait... no I'm not it ruins the fishing and creates more litter in the river). Above Prichard water is low and fishable slots are hard to find in low water. Longer finer leaders make a big difference during the summer. A beadhead caddis pupa, lightning bug type of pattern under the hopper is a good game plan.

Water Cond

Low

Current Flow

Prichard = 95.7 ft³/sec

Cataldo = 442 ft³/sec

St. Joe River, Idaho

Hatches

Hoppers
Ants
Small PMDs

Flies

Clod Hopper - red, peach, pink
Little Juan Hoppers
Parachute Hopper
Hopper Foam - flesh
Mongo Hopper
Hi-Viz Rusty Spinner
Ants
Beetles
Crippled Caddis - tan
Hemmingway Caddis
Parachute Adams or purple haze
Hippie stompers or Grumpy Frumpy
PMX
Mini Nobles


Droppers
-----------------------
Bjorn's Purple Pretty, Tungsten Soft Hackle PT, lightning bugs, BH Rubber Leg PT's, BH Flashback PT's, G6 Caddis (tan or olive), jigged hare's ear

The Fishing

Good fishing by the sounds of it reported our friend Malyn. He said wade fishing around Calder and Avery was great with terrestrials (red), stones, adams and some streamers. Angling traffic was light. If temps stay cool that will keep the tubers to a minimum... hopefully. Good reports from above Avery too, same program, terrestrials, attractors, etc. Hopper / dropper combos. Larger flies will get the eats in faster slots, smaller low profile patterns will get the eats in softer water and seams. Mid day will slow down. Morning is good, evening is decent. Cooler temps will help!

Water Cond

Summertime low water. Decent for August.

Current Flow at Calder

504 ft³/sec

Clark Fork, Montana

Hatches

Caddis
Hoppers
A few PMD's

Flies

Clodhopper - red, purple, peach
Mongo Hopper - Peach
Parachute hopper - tan
Chernobyls
Turks Tarantula - red, yellow
Gypsy King - Black (evening)
X-caddis
Purple Haze
Mini Nobles - purple, pink

Nymphs
-----------------------
BH Flashback Pt's, tung caddis pupa, G6 Caddis, Partridge Caddis, San Juan (brown/red), pats rubber legs, bh prince

The Fishing

Bo floated the Clark Fork yesterday on Sunday and said it was typical Clark Fork... hot one minute, then a long period of nothing, then hot again. With the cloud cover he thought it would be better. He said a small hopper was probably the best. Streamers produce mostly northern pike minnow. Mid day it would probably best to do some dredging with a san juan or pats stone and caddis pupa or beadhead flashback pt type below it.

Water Cond

Low, clear, summer level. Getting warm in afternoon, check temps if they get above 70 degrees best to stop fishing.

Current Flow at St. Regis

2680 ft³/sec

Miscellaneous

Flies

NF Clearwater / Kelly Creek -
Hoppers!
Ants
Beetles
Purple Haze
Crystal Humpy
Pink Pookie
Headlight yellow sally

The Fishing

NF Clearwater / Kelly Creek -
Trout Creek Rd to Hoodoo Pass is still closed, but I believe Cedar Creek Rd out of Superior is still accessible for those wanting to venture to this neck of the woods. The alternate route is to head to Lewiston, then up to Pierce to the NF Clearwater main stem and up from there. From Spokane it is a haul but doable. My good friend Patrick S. just got back from 3 days of fishing there and said fishing was still good compared to his previous trip a few weeks back. Fish though were more particular he noted saying smaller patterns worked better. Tricos, caddis, bwo's were the main ones. Other folks said some action on hoppers but more on beetles and ants. Droppers under a hopper of course are always a good call. Beadhead caddis would be a top choice for me, or a lightning bug style fly. Patrick also mentioned smoke had cleared out of the area towards the end of his trip and angling pressure wasn't too bad after Saturday. If you are willing to make the drive you will probably do well here.

Kootenai -
A very good option for the month of August. Cold water and plenty of it. Best fished by a boat. Lately a pink or yellow hopper or chernobyl with a beadhead dropper has been working. Droppers like caddis pupa, jigged hares ear, batmans, etc hung 2-3' below. Some streamer action with Galloup articulated style flies. Morning and evening best with dries. Late evening a PMX or black chernobyl should be good. Mid day a double bead peacock stone or pat's rubber leg with a caddis pupa, lightning bugs, or princes will find fish.

Water Cond

TROUT CREEK ROAD CLOSED TO HOODOO PASS DUE TO SUNRISE FIRE NEARBY

Steelhead Rivers

Flies

Mouse Patterns
Poppers
Rubber Leg Conehead Buggers
Crayfish
BassTurds

The Fishing

Grande Ronde -
Wayne Jordan from the shop fished the mouth of the Grande Ronde this week and while he didn't slay them he did say all the patterns he fished were productive. This time of the year I usually find streamers to be more productive than top water, while top water mice or poppers will find some fish I like throwing conehead rubber leg buggers, marabout leeches, crayfish, etc in the shallow riffles along the edges, especially with some rock structure.

Water Cond

Grande Ronde -

Current Flows

Grande Ronde River at Troy - 586 ft³/sec

Snake River at Anatone - 17600 ft³/sec

Clearwater River at Spalding - 10700 ft³/sec