Chasing North Idaho Cutthroat

Summer is a good time to be in the mountains and the appeal grows when you add native westslope cutthroat trout and huckleberries to the mix.

Want a little history lesson on westslope cutthroat trout in Idaho? Read this.

That’s what I did about 10 days ago when a friend and I headed into Idaho’s backcountry to fish those cutthroats and to, hopefully, locate some bull trout. We found the cutthroats but didn’t see any bulls. But we found an adequate consolation prize: hundreds of huckleberry bushes loaded with ripe fruit.

Between my friend and me we may have landed 40 nice cutthroats on dry flies. The fish are eager this time of year with modest flows in the rivers and lots of bug activity (aquatic and terrestrial) on top. Throw a Parachute Adams, a black Humpy, a small Stimulator, an X-Caddis, or a Purple Haze, and it's game-on.

Looking to land cutthroats? You can order dry flies online here.

North Idaho offers scads of these small streams to explore and they offer cutts ranging between six and 18 inches. The larger streams, such as the Coeur d’ Alene, the Lochsa, Kelly Creek, the Clearwater, the Selway and the St. Joe, offer the largest fish. But, as we move further into August some of the small streams see large cutts moving in to find cooler water. So, don’t overlook a prospecting mission or two, just to see what may have swum in to find a suitable water temperature.

Here's what the Coeur d' Alene River is doing right now.

Regarding the berries, you’ll find them to be about perfect right now, especially in higher elevation areas. On the day I fished, I must have eaten, literally, 500 of them. The limbs were full and sagging under the weight, and I could easily pick 20 to 30 berries in about a minute. During this dry summer, the berries may not last long, so now is the time to go.

Remember, it’s all catch and release on the native fish, so let those cutthroats and bulls go. But be sure to eat those hucks to your heart’s content. Remember, even though you’re in the backcountry, it’s summer and the hoards are out. Expect to find a lot of people four-wheeling and fishing. Try to go on a weekday if possible. If you can’t, get there early and stay late.