Coeur d'Alene Fishing Report 06.27.19
June has been a fantastic month for fishing here in North Idaho. We've had plenty of water and all the local streams are in great shape. The occasional rain has spruced things up along the way and keeping the water nice and cool. Looks like we are in for a bit more rain come Thursday and back into the hot stuff the following week. No 90's yet but high 70's and 80's, so ideal in my book.
Hatches have been getting stronger. Lots of Pale morning duns and caddis as per usual. The St. Joe is still not quite at normal summer flows but this is a good thing. Having extra water for the summer is what we look for. The Clark fork is finally in shape and giving it up big time. Things are shaping up for a killer summer. Hopefully, we don't get too hot and we keep getting some rain here and there. Pick your poison now, so much good fishing to be had.
Current Conditions
Coeur d'Alene River - We are now in summer flows. You can wade pretty much where ever you want to now. Floating is really relegated to the mid to lower river in a drift boat now. Pontoon boaters can do some of the skinny water further up river. Still some Golden stones out, yellow sallies, p.m.ds and blue wing olives on the rainy overcast days. Green drakes are out too. The afternoons have been killer with caddis and pale evening duns. Smaller nymph rigs are slaying now. Tandem bead head rigs in the riffles and faster pocket water will do well in the middle of the day. Start thinking summer mode now. Grasshoppers should start showing up along with lots of beetles and ants on the hot days.
St. Joe River - Fishing so good now guys. Far more wading options now with the water dropping. Still a touch higher than the Cda river. But this will be so great for this summer. The dry fly fishing up here is so good now. Smaller attractors like an orange Stimulator in a #12 with a smaller bead head pheasant tail will slay in most spots. Don't forget to keep a streamer or two at hand. Smaller variety now. Good old black or olive wooly bugger stripped through some riffles or faster water will show you the bigger fish. With the water still slightly up the floating is so good now. Might be a little bony up by Avery but the lower river is great and lots of options to choose from to float. Like the Cda river caddis, pale evening duns and rusty spinners in the evenings.
Clark Fork River (MT) - Tons of great reports here folks. My favorite flows for the Clark fork are now. You can bang the banks with a big Chubby Chernobyl and a dropper and have all the fun typically allowed in life. Keep a short nymph rig at hand. I like a bigger Yuck bug or brown rubber leg woolly bugger with a big San Juan worm as a dropper. The dry fly fishing is great now too. Green drakes are out later in the afternoons. Lots of pale morning duns and smaller stoneflies too. Tons of caddis in the evenings. An elk hair caddis with a soft hackle dropper in the later afternoon to the evening will kill it. Middle of the day keep your bugs close to the banks in the shade and rip rap. A beetle dropper is a good choice now too. Make sure you give these bigger flies some movement too. Any foam lines and back eddies will hold lots of fish now as well. The flows are on the drop and will be killer for the next few weeks.
Match the Hatch
The evening caddis hatches on all of our rivers are becoming thicker and thicker. Stay late on the hotter days up to dark. The fish really don't like the bright sunny days too much. As soon as you get some shade and the sun goes behind the hills get ready. An adult caddis like an X-Caddis, Goddard or elk hair are all good choices. Have a good size variety of these to match what is coming off. But think caddis emergers too. Soft hackles are killer for this but there are some others like the Translucent caddis emerger, graphic caddis, x2 caddis. Bigger nymphs like Pats Rubber leg's, double bead stoneflies, Twenty inchers are great lead bugs with a tandem nymph set up. Trail them with a San Juan worm, down to earthworm or wireworm. Killer set up on the Clark Fork now.
Need to fill the box before you go? Order flies online here.
Tips & Techniques
Stripping or swinging soft hackles on the Clark fork in the evenings is so fun. Wait later in the day for this to happen. The caddis start coming off and anchoring the boat above a pod of fish and swing a pair of soft hackles is a surefire way to hook up. Catch a couple and then let a bit of anchor rope out and keep working your way down the run with the rope. Or try stripping a pair of them in the back eddies and foam pools. You can see the fish "sharking" or rolling in the foam eating mouth fulls of emergers. This is where this tactic works extremely well. Look for deep drop-offs off the banks with riprap rocks. These are classic spots for the big boy to hang out. Keep your bugs tight to these rocks and give them a twitch here and there and hold on!
Did you know...
Are you wanting to get into fly fishing and don't know where to start? Come down to our shop on Saturdays at 10:30 for our free fly fishing 101 class. We cover the basics on casting, equipment, line, leader, tippet, flies a couple of knots. Great way to get started and headed in the right direction for success. Hope to see you here!
See past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.