Coeur d'Alene Fishing Report 04.18.19

Coeur d'Alene River

It's on! Water has dropped down to 6,200 cfs.  This is a killer flow for the CdA.  Skwalas are out and doing their stone fly thing.  We should be good this week until our next rain event.  Blue-winged olives will be out as well on the rainy overcast days and March browns should be showing up too.  Water clarity has improved drastically, and many great reports came in from over the weekend.  This is such a great flow right now to float.  There is plenty of daylight now as well, so you can put on early and take your time throughout the day. The dry fly action should start midday as the water warms up.  You’ll want to have a good selection of emergers too. A soft hackle behind your skwala or March brown is always a great set up.  Nymphing and streamer fishing is still killer.  But, hey, if the big bugs are out, it's hard to make that switch to go under.  We have a great selection of skwalas as well as March browns, bwos and everything else you may need. The forecast is looking great and warming up the middle of the week.  So, if you can play hooky and get out this week, go!  

St. Joe River

The St. Joe is fishing fantastic.  Flows are down to a perfect spring level of 4,100 cfs.  However, later this week flows may start to go back up with rain that is forecasted.  Like the Coeur d'Alene river, many awesome reports have come in from the last week’s fishing.  Skwalas are now starting to show up.  It is such a fun time of year when these guys are out.  They are our first major hatch of the year and it’s a great one to take part in.  With the sunny weather forecasted this week, the skwalas should be out in full force.  An olive chubby chernobyl with a bead head pheasant tail dropper should fish all day on the Joe.  If you get tired of catching slab cutties on big bushy dry flies, the streamer fishing and nymphing is great as well.  Also, tandem nymph rigs or sculpins will catch all the fish you want too.  Again, it is such a great time of year when we get windows on the local rivers like this. It can be some of the best fishing of the year.  Hopefully, things stay in shape until my next day off and I’ll get a chance to go during the good stuff.

Clark Fork River (MT)

There is nothing but goodness here too, folks.  Flows are rolling at roughly 12,000 cfs, which is a fantastic flow for the Clark Fork.  It may look a touch off-color, but don't be deceived it will fish fine.  The skwalas are out and the fish are digging them in a big way.  You’ll want to keep your bugs tight to the banks now.  This is where the fish are going to hang out in higher flows.  When I say tight, sometimes you need to bounce your flies off the rocks to be in the good holding water.  Also, if you are nymphing or streamer fishing, try to keep your flies in this zone. You should consider running a shorter tandem nymph set up, so you can do this without hanging up on the bottom as much.  This also allows you to cast quicker if you are in a drift boat and moving at a fair speed.  12,000 cfs is still quite a bit of water and you will move through most floats quickly this time of year.  So, if you find rising fish don't be afraid to drop anchor and work them for a while, you'll have plenty of time.  The March browns are going to be out as well as blue-winged olives and probably a few midges too.  

Local Lakes

Some of the surrounding lakes like Cocolalla, Round, Kelso, and Fernan are producing well for trout and a few bass, plus, crappie as well.  We really need a few consistent days of warmer weather to get the bass and crappie going.  I had a great day trout fishing last week on Cocolalla.  I caught four different species of trout and quite a few at that for the short time I was out.  I was running a medium rate sink tip (type 3) and a black mohair leech.  This did the trick.  Balanced leeches in black or olive will fish great for crappie too.  Also, Twin Lakes and Spirit Lake can be fantastic for crappie this time of year too.  Once we get another stretch of rain, the rivers will blow out again and the lake fishing will be the only real option.  

See past reports from the CDA region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.