Coeur d’Alene Fishing Report 05.24.18

Coeur d’Alene River

Flow at Cataldo is 5,610 cfs and level.  The river fished well this past weekend with many good reports of big fish being caught all through the system.  It is still a touch high for great wading, but is for sure doable.  Good hatches as well.  Quite a few green drakes, big golden stones, a few salmonflies, caddis, and blue-winged olives are all coming off from mid morning to late in the evening.  The water is clear and in great condition.  Perfect right now for floating in the driftboat or pontoon boats.  Do be careful though as there are lots of new downed trees in some of the side channels that you need to be aware of.  Streamer fishing will be great, nymphing will be excellent as well.  The dry-fly fishing will get better as the water temps warm up a bit and is good in some areas, but spotty for the most part.  This summer is going to be awesome fishing on the Coeur d'Alene as we still have plenty of snow up high and that will keep the streams cool during the hot months.  Don't forget that we are putting on a drift boat 101 seminar on Saturday June 2. Stop in if you are new to drift-boating or just need some pointers.  The seminar starts at 10:30 a.m. and will go for an hour to hour and a half. See you there!

St. Joe River

Flow at Calder is 10,700 cfs and on the rise.  Man what a lot of water this year.  Just when it looks like we will get a small window, it cranks back up.  It is to be expected as there is just so much snow in the mountains.  I’ll predict that we are still at least 2-3 weeks from it coming into shape. But when it does it is going to be stellar this year on the Joe.  We will have strong flows in July and August when it's usually low with warm water temps.  So get ready for an awesome summer. You should come down for this weekends Memorial Day bag sale—15percent off regular price on anything you can fit into the bag.  This excludes firearms, ammo and select clothing, gift cards and yard items. Only on stock and on hand products,meaning no rainchecks.

Clark Fork River (MT)

Flow at St. Regis is 44,400 cfs and holding steady.  I can't say when was the last time I've seen the Clark Fork carry this much water for this long.  In 1997, the year after I started guiding, it hit 73,000 cfs at St. Regis.  We have come very close to hitting this the last couple of weeks.  It has sustained flows above 40,000 for almost a month and has been in the mid 60,000's.  We will see new structure on the river, gravel bars will have changed dramatically and all for the good.  This is what keeps things interesting in fishing, new and always changing conditions from year-to-year.  This is a great thing for the river and will keep the river healthy and fishing great this summer.  Again we will have killer flows for July and August and I can't wait, it's going to be awesome.  Like the St. Joe I think we are still three or so weeks from it being floatable.

Local Lakes

All fishing great.  I have been on Hayden the last week and it's been killer.  Have been getting great reports from Coeur d' Alene and the Chains that they are fishing well too.  Largemouth bass still in the back bays on beds and very responsive to plastics, wacky worms and the like.  Flies are good, too. Try black Woolly Buggers or Rabbit Leeches and look for beds and let them settle to the bed and twitch slowly.  Crappie and panfish are still being caught on the shorelines under trees or sunken trees.  Small jigs under a bobber or a tandem indicator rig from a fly rod works great too.  Have been picking up smallmouth on rock shorelines and sandy flats and points.  This is going to get better as the weather is warming up again and most of the bass will start moving off the beds and roaming around their summer holding spots.