Sandpoint Idaho Fishing Report 06.13.19
Fishing is staying awesome on the lakes in our area. The warmup coming shouldn’t change too much moving forward. Rivers like the Kootenai are up but fishing great if you’re up for a good float. Rivers like the Clark Fork will recover in time, but for now, focus on bass fishing Lake Pend Oreille or hitting up the Coeur d’Alene or Kootenai.
Current Conditions
Lake Pend Oreille - We are just about full on the lake level -may be a week or so out. This means most of your sloughs and bays will have fish in them. Smallmouth are up and spawning, so cover water to find your most aggressive fish. Post-spawn fish take topwater pretty well, but focus your flies in a baitfish or crawdad pattern until a majority of the fish are post-spawn. Find shoreline and rocky structure and you’ll connect. Locate weeds and sloughs for largemouth bass and pike. Largies will take poppers, divers, and wormy patterns. It’s important to fish slower with your wormy patterns to allow the flies to sink. For pike, check out some weed beds and through deerhair bugs and streamers over the top of them. Pike will lay in wait and ambush the passerby. There may also be some sight fishing opportunities for pike, so keep your eyes peeled.
Clark Fork River below Cabinet Gorge Dam - The Clark Fork below the dam has come down a tad, and can be accessed via boat. However, I’d still be cautious in a boat. The heavy flows aren’t to be messed with, as some odd hydraulics are found on rocky bends and under the bridges. Fishing out near the mouth is always an option, where you can find some smallmouth, pike, and walleye. If you know where you can safely access the river, there have been a TON of caddis on the water and fish are surfacing. Might be worth a look.
Kootenai River below Libby Dam - The Kootenai is a float only game right now, but the fishing has been great! Although it’s higher, the clarity has been decent and the fish are actively feeding mid column and on top. Look for brown drakes and a few stoneflies buzzing around. Chubbies are in play, but you also can’t go wrong with smaller caddis patterns and a Parachute Adams! Keep in mind, boulder fields and boulder gardens are great structure for nymphing and fishing streamers through. You can connect with some really nice fish if you locate these areas. Stop in and get the juicy details to plan your float. We can tell you the best put-ins and take outs, and what to expect. Happy fishing!
Local Lakes - Not much has changed this past week. All of our local lakes are fishing well, and no one stands out above the rest, it just depends what you want to catch and how much solitude you need. It’s still cool enough at night for a lot of the trout lakes to stay active near the surface. During the day, I’d pull buggers, damsel nymphs, and booby flies on a sinking line. Small mayflies of assorted flavors pop off on most of our lakes, so having a Parachute Adams goes a long way. Flying ants, moth, and caddis patterns will produce fish on top for trout. For other varieties of warm water fish, look for shaded areas and shaded structure. Lilly pads are popping everywhere, so give them go with weedless bass bugs for some fun. Cocolalla, Round and Mirror lakes are good to go and fishing well!
Match The Hatch
Clark Fork -Â Grannoms # 12-14, March Browns #12-14, BWOS #14-18, PMDs #14-16, Drakes #12
Kootenai -Â Stoneflies (Salmon & Golden), PMDs #14-16, March Browns #12-14, early Flavs and Drakes #12-14, Assorted Caddis #12-16, Baetis #14-18
Need to fill the box before you go? Order flies online here.
Tips & Techniques
Dry droppers rule right now! Lots of stoneflies mean bigger foam bugs on top, and a Pat’s Rubber Leg on the bottom. Hit close to shoreline structure on faster rivers and near overhangs and cut banks. Throughout the next few weeks, this will be a valuable technique
Did you know...
Want to learn how to fly fish? Free Fly Fishing 101 Introduction Classes: Saturdays @ 10 a.m - 12 noon., For more information, please contact: Sandpoint Fly Shop, (208) 255-5757
Want to win a Winston rod? Stop into North 40 Outfitters on Saturday, June 15th for our “Cast a Rod – Win Two” event. Simply cast a Winston fly rod and fill out the raffle for your chance to win two Winston Rods of your choice. Contact taylor.hess@north40.com for more info
See past reports from the Sandpoint/Ponderay area here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.