Fishing has been good….but any day fishing is better than a day at work…you can’t catch a fish if you line is not in the water….if you fish from shore cast as far out as possible/if you fish from a boat cast as close to shore as possible…etc.

JY with a great Spring Steelhead

Rumorhas it that a bunch of Snowmachiners shot a pack of wolves out of Clark Fork….this the 5th party info by now…but if they at least got one that is fantastic.  Keep up the good work you clarkforkians.

BIG DOGS…(From Wymoing..not idaho)

This is the time of year where we get to pretend that we actually have a fishery where we can use Spey Rods and swing for large anadromus fish…this is we don’t have an ocean, we just have Lake Pend Oreille.  Lake Pend Oreille is home to the world record freshwater rainbow trout tipping the scales somewhere around 37 lbs.  It is also home to the world record Bull Trout at 32 lbs.   This time of year the Rainbows make there spawning runs into the many tribs that dump into Lake Pend Oreille.  When this happens they are known to take Swung flies on Sinking Lines….although beads and eggs work better, it is still a chance to get in touch with a true tight line presentation for large fish.   If you catch one of these fish you have a chance to make $15 from IDFG if you club it and turn in the head to one of the many fish head stations in the area.  This is a recent effort by IDFG to increase the number of Kokanee fry survival in LPO.  Lake trout will bring in a hefty reward of $10 per head. 

Not to ruffle feathers, but some think Habitat restoration is more important than predator extermination.  Stop dredging lightning creek every year and build a new Fu*king train bridge.  Stop power peaking Cabinet Gorge Dam so Fishing actually like being in the lower CF.  These are just some of the opinions that we deal with every day.  So far this year IDFG has netted over 2,100 lake trout and the size is getting smaller every year “hopefully” leading to a “crash” in the spawning cycle.  Lake trout number exploded after Shrimp were planted in the lake by IDFG years ago…as were Lake Trout back in 1922.   Most believe the more you mess with a system the bigger the can of worms that you are opening up.

Now we can hope to have a great Walleye and Bass fishery here in LPO….but I hear they can net those too.

The Clark Fork Riveris dropping and clearing.  Fishing today and tomorrow should be good as long as the weather holds a little….which it never does this time of year.  Skwalas, Baetis, and Midges will be the focus on top…but don’t be afraid to throw some big streamers to the bank.

Lake Pend Oreille is walleyeless right now….the water is still too cold and nobody has caught one that we know about this year.

Kootenai Riveris being hammered right now just below Libby Dam.  The biggest fish of the year so far is around 23lbs.   Fishing floating Rapalas right below the dam is the best bet….and it gets even better right around 10:30pm when the dam kicks on and spits out thousands of little Kokannee.

Good luck and watch out for those De-Listed wolves…they are vicious.

Lake Pend Oreille put  out a 14 lb Rainbow caught by Ira this week.  Fishing around the mouth of Pack River between Sunnyside and Trestle Creek is still the best place to be right now for Rainbows and Browns.

I had a few experimental Walleye fishermen pound Lake Pend Oreille all day yesterday with nothing but two trash fish to speak of.  The water is still only 39 degrees…maybe once it warms up to around 45 Walleye will start moving in to where they “should be.”

Ira with a nice LPO Spring Buck 

The Clark Fork river at St. Regis is currently 5700 cfs and a little off color.  Fishing should be great this weekend if the river continues to drop.  Skwalas and March Browns should start showing themselves as temperatures rise throughout the day. 

LPO tribs open up Apirl 1….they are still a little too low to hold fish right now, but it is never to early to start looking for fish.

I am super stoked to have two very close friends, Justin and Kate, come up the fish here in N.Idaho over my birthday “week.”  We will be fishing for four days trying to chase Rainbows and Lake Trout from in and around Lake Pend Oreille.  Not quite as good as chasing wild Steelhead, but pretty darn close.

Lake Pend Oreille has been putting out some very nice rainbows near the mouth of Pack River.  Trolling Rapala’s from Trestle Creek to Sunnyside through the mouth right on the edge of the muddy water has been producing Rainbows up to 21lbs so far this year.  Running these plugs right on the surface and down to 20 ft works well.  Perch, Gold, and Silver are the best colors to run this time of year.

The Lower Clark Fork is running  a little low right now…for real time flows go to http://137.161.202.92/nws/hh/basins/data.html?flt+cab this is the outflow from Cabinet Gorge Dam.  Of course there are no fish in the Lower Clark Fork right now, but for those interested in looking at the flows this is your best option.

Upper Clark Fork near St. Regis is running around 6,000 cfs and is off color.  As the river drops fishing should be great.  Skawalas are already showing themselves during the heat of the day as well as Baetis and midges.

Spring is here and we are very excited to start fishing here in Idaho and Montana.