Coeur d’Alene Fishing Report 06.14.18
Coeur d'Alene River
Flow 1,430 cfs at Cataldo and dropping. What a great time of year. We have been blessed with good high water this year and this has done wonders for our fisheries this year. The fishing on the Coeur d'Alene has been fantastic and should stay the course. We had a great spell of rain and cooler weather over the weekend and hopefully this is the recipe for the rest of the year. Getting an occasional rain through the summer will make things even better. Don't be afraid to go when we get some overcast and rain, the fish love it. Now if it rains too hard to muddy up the water that is a different thing but an occasional rain usually is a great thing. We are seeing great Green Drake hatches, Caddis are still strong mid day, stoneflies are still about too. The pale morning duns should be coming on strong soon too. Still killer nymphing and streamer fishing in the mornings and mid day if you are not seeing fish up. The wading opportunities are just getting better and better each day as the water drops. Looks like we are supposed to get some more rain later this week so this should keep things rocking along well.
St. Joe River
Flow 3,450 cfs at Calder and dropping. Awesome conditions right now folks. Getting better each day too. The Joe is coming into shape and is fishing as good as ever. Hatches are becoming more consistent and should continue to be great this week. Still higher than the Coeur d' Alene so the wading options are still not perfect but getting better. Fantastic boating water though. This is my absolute favorite flow right now for the drift boats. Not too bony and you can do a nice long float and take your time if you want to. Plenty of day light to do a long float and stop in the good stuff and fish to rising fish for a while. Green Drakes, Caddis and very similar palate as the Coeur d'Alene right now. The Caddis mid day has been extremely good though. Soft hackles trailed off the back of a good old Elk Hair Caddis will get the job done well.
Clark Fork River (MT)
Flow 26,600 cfs at St. Regis and dropping. The rain from the other day brought the river up a tad but is on the drop again. I am losing patience though—can someone plug the hole please, I've got stoneflies to throw at big rainbows and this high water is a serious buzz kill. Well good news is that the local lakes are great and that's cool too.
Local Lakes
Fishing great. Smallmouth fishing has been fantastic. Fly or gear, pick your poison. A black Wolly Bugger and a sink tip worked in between the docks and close to the bank and you'll have all the fun you want. Popper fishing is getting really good on the fly gear too. I have been getting good reports from the gear guys on both smallies and largemouth as well. Pike are still making a showing too. But getting less reports that way. Crappie and panfishing is still good. Small black or brown mohair leeches or balanced leeches are perfect for these guys. Just keep looking for downed structure like trees or logs and look for them suspended near or under them.
Read past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.