Coeur d'Alene River Fishing Report 9.7.2017
The North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River has improved a bit as the nights have started to cool. Still, mornings and evenings are your best options. October caddis are showing up now, but Tricos, PMD's and hoppers dominate, especially in the mornings. Midday is slower but, big attractors, such as Chubby Chernobyls, beetles and small ants, do the trick. Nymphs will take fish at that time as well. The big caddis are consistently out in the late afternoon and evening hours, so be prepared to match them.
Want to know how to match late season flying ants?
The St. Joe River has been great! Early, midday or late . . . time of the day doesn’t matter because it’s all fishing very well. Smaller hoppers with a beetle or an ant dropper fits the bill. You will get fish on smaller attractors too, meaning Stimmies, PMX's and Humpies. Small flying ants will be a great go-to in sizes 18-20. Streamers are getting attention with the bigger fish, so bring a few black or olive buggers to the river with you. Like we’re seeing on the CDA, the big caddis show in the evenings.
The lower Clark Fork River in Montana has been awesome. Have had several reports that the Trico and hopper fishing has been tremendous. We are getting the small flying ants as well, so make sure you have those in your box. The Trico hatch tapers off midday. But a Morrish Hopper and a small ant will kill it in the mornings and through the afternoon. October caddis and mahogany duns are starting to show up too. These will start getting looks as well.
Here's what the Clark Fork River is doing right now.
Clearwater River steelhead. Well, no reports as of late. But there are fish in the system, just not as many as we’d like there to be. So if you head down to chase these unicorns, skating a medium size dry or your favorite traditional hair wing wet are good options to get an eat. If you hit the lotto and catch said unicorn, keep him or her in the water, be kind and give them a quick release.