North Idaho: Two Flies for Late Summer and Beyond
By Dillon Given
Every region has its own collection of "go-to flies" that always seem to work when nothing else does. North Idaho is no exception. Here are a couple patterns—what I consider to be the two best flies for north Idaho trout—that you need on the water the next time you’re out.
#12 Purple Hippie Stomper
When the color purple first came onto the fly-fishing scene, it made a splash. Like everything new, there were skeptics and believers. It was easy to tell the difference between these people because the believers were out-fishing the skeptics three-to-one. Here we are a few years later, and almost everyone is a believer. The Hippie Stomper is just another pattern that provides the necessity of having a selection of purple flies in your box. From April to October, this fly produces on trout of all sizes. I recommend the Hippie Stomper to anyone who fishes the Kootenai, Clark Fork, Coeur d'Alene, Thompson, and St. Joe rivers. Fish it in the middle of a hot afternoon with an 18-inch dropper behind it, or during an ongoing evening caddis hatch . . . the fish will eat. We order larger quantities of this fly than any other in our Ponderay shop, and we sell out of them every year.
You can look for a suitable pattern in our bins right here.
#6 Olive Balanced Leech
Whether you are swinging a river, slow stripping a lake, steadily retrieving with a spinning rod and casting bubble, or ice fishing in the dead of winter, this fly hunts! This is my secret fly for places like Lake Cocolalla, Lake Pend Orielle and the Clark Fork and Kootenai rivers. This fly has worked extremely well for me northern Idaho. I haven't tested it with a northern pike, but I have faith it would work if presented correctly, especially if tied on a bigger hook. Since the fly is such a simple tie, it is virtually indestructible.
Want to tie this fly up yourself? Here's the tools and the material to do it.
P.S., I tried ordering more of these from Fullingmill, but they are sold out. I'm guessing we are not the only fly shop that likes this fly.