Kootenai River:

The river is dropping and is very fishable right now.  Flows today are at 14800 cfs.  PMD’s, Drakes, Ants, Beetles, and Small Hoppers are working.

Clark Fork River:

Still on the Drop at 13,900 cfs this morning.  Fishing is HOT right now.  Dry Flies picking up around noon to 1:00 pm.  Golden Stones.

Lake Pend Oreille

Bass fishing has been very good over the last week.  There are tournaments about every weekend, so try and fish during the week if you can.  Yamamotos, crankbaits, tubes, etc…are all working well. 

The suface temp of Lake Pend Oreille is ranging between 55 and 60 degrees.  Trout are still being caught on the surface, there are a lot of weeds on top right now, so getting just under them has been the key to success.

Most of the rivers are blown out right now due to spring run-off and all the rain we have been having.  The Clark Fork at St. Regis is running around 20,000 cfs.  It should pick up once it drops to around 14,000 cfs.  The Kootenai is on the drop and running around 20,000 cfs as well.  Fishing side channels should be good on the Koot.

The Coeur d’Alene River is on the rise and flowing around 3,200 cfs and Enaville.  Once the river starts to drop fishing will continue to improve.  Green Drakes, Brown Drakes and Stone flies are everywhere right now.

Good Luck!
Cal

Lake Pend Oreille

Things are warming up on the surface with the nice weather we had all weekend.  Surface temps are now in the Upper 50′s to Low 60′s in places.  The bass spawn in on right now. 

Rainbows and Lake Trout are still on  the surface, but they will be moving down later this week with the warm weather and surface temps rising.

Kootenai River

Currently Flowing at 34400 cfs…makes things a litte too high to fish.  There might be some side channel action, but I would wait untill the river drops after the “sturgeon spawn”

Clark Fork River

Still on the Drop.  18500 cfs and dropping.  Should fish good once flows get around 14000 cfs.   Golden Stones, Caddis and some PMD’s should be going off.

The 2010 Spring Derby is underway right now.  The conditions have been perfect for Rainbow fishing this week with winds and overcast conditions.  Surface Flies, Rapalas, and Apex’s have all been working well.   Black/Purple and other darker colors are producing right now.

The Current Standings are:

Adult Rainbow
Bernard Berg 9 # 10 oz. 30 ”
Larry Schnabell 9# 8 oz. 21″
Megan Kingsley 8#9 oz. 25 ”
Mike Perry 8# 6oz. 26″
Bernard Holbrook 8# 21″

Adult Mackinaw
Lana Kay Hanson 19# 35″

Scott Plue 10# 15oz.

James Christy Jr. 11# 15 oz. 30″
Nancy Flamand 11# 12 oz. 30″
John Jay 11# 12 oz. 31 1/2″
John Cosolito 11# 12 oz. 30″
Stephen Miller 10# 4 oz. 29″

Youth Div.
Bradley LaCroix. Mac. 7# 28″
Coel Moore Rain. 5# 11oz. 22 3/4″
Issiah Allison Rain. 4# 12 oz. 23″
Jordie Breeden 3# 1 oz. 19 1/2″
Triston Roslak 2# 12 oz. 20″

Lake Pend Oreille:

The lake temperature is getting up there into the 50′s  Bass, Perch, Crappie are all being caught in the warmer areas of the lake and river right now.  The Lake is up to 2054.05 the link to the lake level is http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/nws/hh/basins/data.html?pnd+hopi

These are the current levels at hope.  As the water warms and raises, look fishing in the sloughs to heat up.  Crappie can be found this time of year in a number of places around the lake and they are just starting to show themselves over the last weekend.

Clearwater River/Snake River/Columbia River

A Huge Salmon season is predicted to hit the clearwater river this year.  The number returning of adult chinooks will be larger than last year which was a record year.  Here are the current charts for current fishing numbers

We are only days away from a great salmon fishing season on the clearwater.  Wrapped flatfish back-trolled hammer these fish once they enter the river. 

Trout fishing on Lake Pend Oreille has been very good.  Currently there are lots of weeds and debris througout the lake,  Fishing towards Garfield Bay and South has been clear of debris.   Spoons, Apex’s, and Lymans have been working well on the calmer days.  Flies and Rapalas have been working on rougher days. 

The Clark Fork in Idaho is just about done now.  Fishing has slowed to a hault and the majority of the spawners are done.

Ice fishing on Lake Pend Oreille had been picking up big time right now.  Perch are averaging 8-10″ with some 13″ and 14″ being caught.  Small yellow/white jigs seem to be working very well.  There is still plenty of Ice around the Condos and Sunnyside. 

Steelhead fishing on the Clearwater has been very consistent.  Fish are being caught throughout the entire river right now.  After the next push of water the upper reaches should be fishing very well for some Large Tomatoes.  Water Temps in the 40′s are still creating some strikes on the swing.

Friday morning Scott Brow and I headed down to the clearwater river at 4:30 am, jet boat in tow.  We arrive to a miserable wet day with temps in the lower 40′s.  The river is not nearly as crowded as we had expected.  By the time we hit our second run both of us have had fish on….both lost.  So we work our way up the river stopping at all our favorite spots that don’t have people in them.  By two o’clock we finally land our first fish on the trip.  It was a 31″ hatchery hen.  No more fish were taken that day.

On Saturday we tried our luck on the Lower Snake.  We launched the sled at Hell’s Gate and ran all the way up to the Ronde stopping  in-between to fish.   The first run we stopped at provided Adam with a sweet little 4lb wild fish.  As we ran up river we hooked 4-5 more and landed a few of those.  By mid afternoon we were tired of all the big boats beating up the water so we decided to head back down river in hope of finding some quite water to fish.  We finished the day at the same spot Adam had caught his fish.  I decided to go through first with a dry.  This turned out to be a great idea.   About half-way through I landed my first wild steelhead on a dry fly.  It has created a new monster inside of me.  Seeing the 8lb, chrome, wild hen come up and sip the dry stopped my heart… then heavy pressure on the end of my line told me that she was hooked.

We decided to head back the Clearwater on Sunday to finish out our three days.  This time the weather was a little better and the river was up about 500 cfs.  We ended up hooking 4 and landing two that day.  The biggest was around 33″.  It was a great trip and I always  fun swinging flies with friends stopping to drink some beer every once and a while….  Some new friends were definitely made.

Steelhead season is upon us big time on the inland side.  The Columbia river is going off right now with Steelhead and Salmon.

The Clearwater River is very low, but fishing has been amazing over the last few days.

Now is the time to get out and swing some flies either on the Columbia, Snake, Grand Ronde, or Clearwater.  Good Luck

Cal

…has been improving over the last week.  Rainbows have been hitting anywhere from the surface down to 60 feet.   There are a lot more Kokanne this year that ever before.  Try and find the Kokanee schools and fish around them to pick up some fish.

Sebile jointed Majic Swimmer (lures) have been working phenomenal!!  They will out produce any spoon or jointed Rapala hands down.

Brown trout are starting there annual migratory misson and can be found near the mouths of creeks and rivers.  There have been some revisions in the Fishing Regulations so be sure to check if you Stream is OPE N this year….some are not open anymore.

Bass fishing has picked up in Lake Pend Oreille.  The larger fish are moving back into the shallows and can be caught on Jerk Baits, Zooms, Flies, and Yamamotos Senkos.  This is the best time of year to catch the biggest Smallie of your life.

Good luck out there.

….one more thing…..Steelhead fishing is Good.

Cal

Fishing has been improving on the Clearwater River for Steelhead.  Huge numbers are coming over the Dams on the lower Columbia.  It should make for a great year all over Washington and Idaho.

The Kootenai River has been fishing stellar with great hopper action throughout most of the day.  Pounding the banks all along the river will bring up some big trout.

Lake Pend Oreille has cooled off a little bit with the weather that we have been having.  Lake Trout are being caught near the mouth of Bottle Bay on some Dodger/Fly action.  The fish are not big, but they are around.

Good luck out there!