Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Fishing Report 05.31.18
Coeur d'Alene River
Flowing 3,540 cfs at Cataldo and dropping. Fishing great and getting better. Tons of great reports from over the Memorial Day weekend. River has been dropping steadily and shaping up wonderfully. This week it should keep on fishing great. Lots of green drakes, golden stones, a few salmonflies. Caddis have been spotty but we’re seeing a few. Nymphing continues as the best producer. Tandem nymph rigs have been the go to. Good old standards, like a Pat's with a smaller bead head, and a Pheasant Tail or a Prince will catch fish all day. Or try a big Chubby Chernobyl, which go on sale online at North 40 tomorrow, to represent a golden stone or salmonfly. Use a long dropper so you have a searching rig and you'll primarily get eats on the dropper, but every so often you'll get one to eat the big bug. As the water drops and the hatches become more stable the dry-fly fishing will start to be more consistent. Pale morning duns (PMD's) are not too far off now. The caddis hatch in the afternoon will start to be a player in the next few weeks. Hot tip here: don't forget about beetles and ants now guys. They can be a game-changer early in the year for the dry-fly game. We get a good carpenter ant hatch early that the fish will key in on, so run a bigger ant pattern for a dropper and see what happens. Good luck and enjoy this awesome fishing now.
St. Joe River
Flowing 8,590 cfs at Calder and dropping. The Joe is going to be game-on later this week. Still a touch high for floating, but so close. I favor it around 4-5,000 cfs, but it will fish fine at 7,000, too, It'll be just a fast float. Nymphing and streamer fishing will be the deal. Big dry and droppers will work fine too. The water is still pretty big, about a week behind the Coeur d'Alene. It is going to be lights out good though in the next three weeks as the water is dropping. Temps are supposed to be mild this week and the following mid-60’s and 70's with some cloud cover too. This just screams dry-fly fishing. Expect to see good green drake activity along with yellow sallie stoneflies, large golden stones, pale morning duns, some caddis, too, but spotty. You'll want to look for the backeddies and tailouts for rising fish. The fast flows make the dry-fly fishing a bit tougher, but it will concentrate the fish to the slower, easier going water. So, if you know where to look you'll have a ton of fun.
Clark Fork River (MT)
Flowing 47,400 cfs at St. Regis and dropping. So much water here guys, and gals. We are still a couple weeks out. I predict we will see fishable flows around the 10th to 15th of June. So not too far off. Looks like we are in our final descent. When this river comes into shape, look out. It is going to be off the hook good. And having these nice high flows through June, July and August is a big bonus. Will have actively feeding fish mid-day even in the hotter temps. This should mean (hopefully) no Hoot Owl restrictions this year. So hang tight.
Local Lakes—The bass fishing has been great. I got out yesterday and did well fly-fishing for smallmouth and crappie on Hayden. Stripping a smaller black leech with a small beadhead dropper in tight to the rocks and between the docks was great. Lots of action and quite a few fish to hand. However, not many large fish tight to the shorelines, but the bigger ones are holding a bit deeper off the shorelines. So a tube jig or a smaller crankbait would do wonders here. The crappie are still hanging out on downed trees and under trees overhanging the shore line. Largemouth bass are still hanging out in the back bays on beds. You can concentrate your efforts in 4-to 8 feet of water and look for clear sandy beds and sight-cast to fish. Pike fishing is decent—not too many reports here. Just a few and it seems like they are still prowling the shallows looking for a quick meal. If you are going to dedicate and chase these guys, a red and white bunny fly on a floating line, early in the mornings, is your ticket to covering productive water. Concentrate in the back bays in 6-12 feet of water. The popper fishing is decent too for the smallmouth. Look for the big patches of pollen and pick your favorite popper and go to work.
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