Coeur d'Alene Fishing Report 06.13.19
Current Conditions
Another stellar spring week last week and looks like we are in for a good one again. Weather is going to be great this week and through the weekend. All the rivers are fishable and some more than others. The Clark fork on the Montana side is now coming into shape and should be good to go this week. It's been a long time coming for the Clark Fork with a 25% or better snowpack than over here in the Coeur d'Alene drainage. The St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene rivers are both fishing great with the Joe being a touch high still for wading but not bad and getting better.
Hatches on all the rivers are good and steadily improving. The lake fishing is fantastic as well. Hayden Lake, Coeur d'Alene, Fernan and all of the local lakes are doing well. From smallmouth, largemouth, panfish, pike and trout are all active. Cocolalla Lake, Round, and Fernan have been great for trout specifically too. Early and late on these lakes is when these lakes will fish the best. This is when the hatches, sunlight, and temperature are ideal. Looking forward to the next few weeks as this is when our conditions really are some of the best of the year.
Coeur d'Alene River - The fishing has been off the hook! No pun intended it's really that good though. Golden stones are out now and fish are keying on them in spots. Bigger attractors with rubber legs and droppers are perfect now. As the temps get warmer, which this week we will be in the high 80's earlier and later will be better. The caddis hatches in the afternoons will be getting stronger.
Don't be afraid to stay late and swing some soft hackles and caddis adults. Pale morning duns are out in good numbers too. Nymphing and streamer fishing are still very viable. Faster oxygenated spots will be better for this. The larger stonefly nymphs are still good for a lead bug in a tandem nymph rig. But start thinking about medium size and smaller size bead heads as droppers as more mayflies and caddis are out now too. Downsize some of your streamers from the bigger stuff we were throwing in the spring.
Hoppers and terrestrials are now going to be players too. Hoppers are still a touch early but beetles and ants are not. They are plenty of them out flying around on the warmers days. Should be fantastic stuff guys and gals! Here are the flows for ya.
St. Joe River - No shortage of good fishing here. Lots of great reports from last week. Again still a touch high in spots for wading but much better than last week. The floating now is ideal. I absolutely love the flows now on the St. Joe for floating. You can take a longer float and take your time and stop at all the good spots with no worry of getting off too late. Pick your poison on what throw.
Same story here with the bugs as the Cda. Goldens, yellow sallies, pmd's, green drakes, Hendrixson, Grey drakes and caddis. Medium size attractor with a bead head for searching out of the drift boat with a longer dropper leader up to 3'. Middle of the day is going to be slower so pull out the streamer rod and bang the banks with a sculpin. The slower slack tail outs in the afternoons will be full of fish sipping caddis and pale evening duns or maybe a rusty spinner.
Clark Fork River (MT) - It's on finally! Flows are dropping like a rock so get it while it's good. Now, these are still pretty big flows so be careful out there. Keep your bugs close to the banks and lots of back rowing now. Bring plenty of split shot and heavy tippet as you really need the bugs in the 3-foot zone to the bank now. Shorter leaders are actually better in these conditions for nymphing. Five feet to your first nymph is all you need. Drop a bigger Prince nymph or twenty inchers are good too behind your lead fly. A big bushy stone fly dry and a longer dropper is good too. Just do what you can to get your nymphs down quickly and keep them close to the bank as well.
The back eddies will fish well now. Look for shady banks for any feeding fish. The sun now will keep the fish at bay from consistently rising. The evenings should be great for caddis and better feeding fish. Word has it the Salmon flies are making a good showing in spots too. With the larger stoneflies out, goldens and Salmonflies, make sure you give them a twitch or two. Keep their rubber legs moving and this will draw some violent strikes. Dead drifting bigger rubber leg buggers or pats are a no brainer. The San Juan worm is always a good choice now on the Fork. The water will have some brown to it still. But the banks will have 2-3 feet of clarity. Don't let the off-color bother you. This is normal for the Fork this time of year. I really like the river at 10,000 c.f.s (+-). This should be in play next week.
Match the Hatch
Dries-
1) Golden stones- Orange body Chubby Chernobyl, large yellow stimmies, flush floater, morning wood
2) Pale morning duns- Sparkle dun, snowshoe dun, thorax dun, para wulf pmd, kellers fim critic.
3) Caddis- Elk hair caddis, x-caddis, corn-fed, Goddard, outrigger
4) Hendrixson- Thorax, pink soft hackle
5) Salmon fly- #4 Chubby in orange or red, red Turk's tarantula, morning wood, orange pmx, Norman's thing from Uranus
6) Green Drake- Green Drake Wulff, sparkle dun drake, Turducken green drake, cdc emerger
7) Grey drakes- Extended body foam, Parachute Adams, soft hackle emerger
8) Rusty spinners- Gallop's tilt wing, Jakes wet body spinner, rusty poly wing
Nymphs-
1) Double bead stones
3) Jigged pheasant tail
4) Copper John red, copper
5) North fork special black, tan
6) Rubber leg woolly buggers black, olive
7) Trina's wire stone
Streamers-
1) Hare sculpin- olive and tan
2) Near Nuff sculpin- olive and tan
3) Baby conga-black olive
4) Peanut Envy
5) Zonkers - yellow, tan
Need to fill the box before you go? Order flies online here.
Tips & Techniques
The stoneflies on most of our rivers are a big player now. Don't be afraid of throwing a really big attractor. When I say big 4-6's are just fine. Keep their legs twitching and moving. The adults flutter and move a lot on the water. Undercut banks, overhanging trees, and faster-riffled water will be good spots to try this. The slower water can be ok for this but maybe a smaller pattern and an occasional twitch versus constant twitching. Shorter leaders for these big guys and don't forget the dropper. 2-3 foot dropper with a medium size stonefly nymph like a pat's will work fine.
Stay later in the day for the smaller bugs like caddis and pale evening duns to take hold. As soon as the rivers get shade in the afternoons the magic will really happen. Swinging caddis emergers or soft hackles in the late afternoon is such a killer way to go. Quickly stripping tandem soft hackles of a bank like mini streamer fishing is good too. The softer back eddies or tail outs are great places now to look for rising fish in the afternoons. Start giving the beetles and ants some love. A basic black beetle behind your attractor will get lots of looks now with the warmer weather. A twitch with these works well too.
If the sun is high, switch to a double nymph rig and concentrate on fast riffles with bigger boulders or shelves that drop off to deep water. Or come back through it with a streamer. You may see a different class of fish doing this versus just dries. This is such a great time of year and have a blast out there!!!
See past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.