Coeur d'Alene Fishing Report 05.09.19
Coeur d'Alene River
Well folks, if you didn't get out on the river this weekend, you may have missed your window. This morning at Cataldo it measured 3,760 cfs and it was on the rise big time. The forecast for this week is sunny and in the mid-70s to low 80s. Now, I'm not complaining about the weather but this is going to spell big runoff for all of the rivers around. We had good fishing over the weekend with multiple reports of good dry fly action on the lower river and good streamer fishing on the upper. With the rise in the flows, I think it will be mostly a streamer and nymph game. I'm sure you could find a soft pocket with some riser in it.
There is no shortage of food for the fish, you just need to find slow enough water to catch them in. There are salmon flies, golden stones, skwalas, March browns, pale morning duns, Grannom caddis, blue-winged olives, and a few others out and about. With the looks of it, this may be our big push of water for the spring runoff. So, I'd suggest looking at some lake fishing in the future. Word has it that the smallmouth fishing is getting really good on the local lakes. Crappie, pike, and largemouth bass are all being caught in good numbers too. The flying carpenter ants are out and about too, this is a killer hatch here in North Idaho and in the northwest. Whether it's trout, bass, or panfish they will be looking for these guys. And, guess what? We have them in the bins in a big way!
St. Joe River
Like the Coeur d'Alene, the Joe is going to get big in a hurry. You might have a day or two as the flows are going up where the fishing will be okay, but not for long. By the end of the week, the flows should double if not triple. Today, the Joe is running 5,060 cfs. This is a great flow but it is coming up as we speak. I think it should be fine up to and around 7,000 cfs. However, this is pretty fast water guys. If you happen to go the next couple of days, use streamers and nymphs close to the banks. A big chubby chernobyl with a deep bead head dropper should do the trick too. We have some really heavy double bead stonefly nymphs in the bins that will work great for these conditions and maybe trail them with a San Juan worm dropper. There should be lots of bugs out but it will be difficult finding soft enough water to find the fish up on them. I'd stick to a bigger black or olive heavy streamers and keep them close to the banks. This should find fish for you.
Clark Fork River (MT)
There are no great reports from here, guys. It's big and getting bigger. The clarity has not been great either. You might be able to find a soft edge at an incoming creek like the St. Regis or Fish Creek but even then, it will be tough fishing. For the lower river, I've been hearing good reports of great pike and smallmouth fishing as of late -around Plains, Paradise, and Thompson Falls. Please be very careful on the river now it is really going to get big!
Local Lakes
Fernan, Hayen, CdA, Twin, Spirit, Cocolalla -all of the local lakes are fishing great right now. I was able to get out on Cocolalla on Sunday, and I had a great time with the family. We didn't fly fish much but trolled some Mepps spinners about 50-60 feet behind the boat and had great success. Now, if I were fly fishing I would have done equally as well as there were tons of fish on the surface eating flying ants, calibeatis mayflies, and suspended midges. I think you could do really well stripping a black leech too on a full sinking line or a medium sinking tip line. There have been great reports coming in for smallmouth on the local lakes too. They are just now moving into the shallower water and a full sink line with a larger rubber legs crayfish pattern should do well in 10-15 feet of water. Crappie fishing is good now also. Finally, smaller black mohair leeches with a slow retrieve in 10 feet or shallower water will do well.
See past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.