Coeur d'Alene Fishing Report 07.25.19
Welcome to summer! Lower flows, bright hot sunny days and good fishing abound, so it is time to schedule your days smartly. If you have the opportunity to get on the water really early and or stay till dark, this is what you will want to do.
Fishing has been very consistent in all of our rivers. You just need to pick your times wisely and not beat yourself to death in the middle of the day. We have luckily been getting cooler weather in the last couple of weeks but the forecast is changing as we speak -upper 80s and 90s are in the future with rising water temperatures too. Please be considerate and try to land fish quickly and release them quickly too. The warmer weather will mean tired fish and this raises the chances at mortality. Early mornings and late evenings are best as the water temperatures are cooler and better on the fish -this means better hatches and more consistent fishing.
Current Conditions
Coeur d'Alene River - There is low water here, folks. It's also crowded on the weekends, but not too bad mid-week. Try to concentrate your efforts in the fast turbulent water. This is where the fish should be holding best. Shade, deep holes, and pocket water are places to look as well. Terrestrials like ants, beetles, and hoppers are on the menu. The crane flies and also big October caddis pupae are good choices too. Small black leeches like a zonker or woolly bugger stripped down and across should produce some nicer fish. There is good dry fly action early and late, but just siestas and skipping rocks in the middle of the day.
St. Joe River - Here, there are good water conditions for this time of year. Focus on the pocket water and riffles. The bigger pools and flat water will be very tough fishing now unless in you go in the evenings and the mornings. The upper sections above Marble Creek on up to the headwater will be great fishing. The lower end is still good but it is more of an early and late game. You should still have good action mid-day in the upper stretches of the river. Basically, it is classic summer mode on this river. Pick your favorite mid to smaller attractor with a bead head or small terrestrial dropper and go to work.
Clark Fork River (MT) - Good reports from Montuckey land. The Fork has had good levels of water this year and is paying dividends in the heat. It is still a good idea to fish early and late in the day as this will give you better shade and hatches. Being a big exposed river you really need to pick your floats wisely and know the river well to understand where the fish are hanging out. Close to the banks is good but fish need a little deeper water as well. look for points with a foam line coming off of them with a good riffle will hold fish -plus, fast edges and drop-offs as well. Think about heading over by mid-day and fishing from 3 p.m. until dark. The caddis hatches this time of year are incredible! Smaller caddis in the 16-18 range with a caddis pupae or emerger skittered in the riffles or foam pools will surely get destroyed.
Match the Hatch
Pale morning duns are out but they are small so use 16 to 18 comparaduns and sparkle duns. Also use caddis as well in the 16-20s; x-caddis, goddards, corn-fed, cdc caddis, Lafontaine pupae. You'll want to use hotwire bead heads for some of the mayfly nymphs. Use a JJ special or Bighorn buggers for the crayfish patterns -plus, old school zonkers in pearl, copper, black. Use your standard bead head pheasant tails but choose small 14 to 20. And, use hares ears in the same sizes.
If we get more overcast days and, or, rain, the blue-winged olives come out thick but are very small 20 to 24. Run an adult dun bwo with a cripple or cdc emerger behind it. Finally, there are lots of cinnamon flying ants out right now. My pool in my back yard is covered every day in them. The trout love these guys. Look for splashy rises on windy days. Try a small or medium hopper with one of these behind it as a dropper, this is one of my favorite summertime setups.
Need to fill the box before you go? Order flies online here.
Tips & Techniques
If you have the opportunity at going back through a run with a smaller streamer and a small San Juan worm, do it. You can cast down and across and either swing them or strip them quickly. Keep moving through the run a couple of steps at a time and keep your rod tip low. Remember to strip set when doing this -so many fish get lost by lift setting like a dry fly. Low rod angles set and striped at the same time will increase your percentages of hookups. Use your eyes and try to find your streamer in the run if possible. Lots of times you can see the fish chasing your fly and you can time your set. Sometimes it is subtle and not a violent movement. Seeing the take will help with this.
Also, downsize your bugs now -mayflies are pretty small now, same with the caddis. Your nymphs need to be this way too with a few exceptions -think crayfish now and October caddis cased caddis nymphs. These guys are migrating to the shoreline and the trout know this.
Did you know...
Start thinking about fall, folks. We will be having our free fly tying classes starting in mid-October. Also through the summer, we will continue our Saturday fly fishing 101 classes every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. We cover the basics, casting, knots, flies, etc... The fly tying classes will be like last year every Saturday and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. All skill levels welcome and we have a great time! Classes fill up very fast and we typically only have room for 15 per class. We will have our sign up sheet at the shop so get in here ASAP! It's been an awesome summer and this fall shouldn't be any different.
See past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.