The rivers are hitting their stride now!  Waters levels have come down, temps are at good levels and our summer weather has arrived.  The Clark Fork is still high at 12,800.  It has gone from a dirty brown to a clear green.  We will start guiding in 2 weeks.  If you are interested in a trip give us a call.  

The NF of the Coeur d Alene rivers levels have been creeping down.  This can be good news and bad news.  As the levels come down the water temps go up.  This is also good news because  the fish will start to concentrate in the deeps pools and runs.  We are still seeing good hatches coming off daily.  You can expect to see golden stones, PMD's (though tapering off) green drakes, yellow sallies and caddis.  While not a hatch, try Throwing some ant and beetle patterns as well.  My suggestion is to ignore the lower river from mile post 16.  Below mile 16 the giant bikini, beer and rubber tube hatch is going off daily.  Head up river instead.  You have over 30 miles to explore and fish.

Reports from the St. Joe point toward some very good fishing.  Like the NF CDA the best fishing can be found above Avery away from the giant bikini, beer and rubber tube hatch.  Again you have mile and miles of river above Avery to explore and probably have to yourself to fish.  Moon Pass and the pass from St. Regis are now open.  The hatches on The Joe are basically the same as the NF CDA, but about 2 weeks behind.  The water level is down to a manageable  level.  But do be cautious.  I also had a report from a camper on the NF of the Joe that it was fishing well.  Besides matching the hatch try some foam and some "classic" attractor patterns like Trudes and Royal Wulffs.

NF of the Coeur d Alene.

Flows  992 CFS  Cataldo, 460 Enaville & 194 Prichard

Hatches

Golden Stone
Green Drake
Yellow Sallies
PMD
Caddis

Suggested Flies

UM Butt Yellow Sally
Goulds Half Down Sally
Rogue River Golden
Henry Fork Golden
Bugmiester Golden
Ants! Black Cinnamon and Flying
Pats Rubberlegs, Kaufman Stones and Galloup War Birds as droppers
Sledgehammer caddis
Ballonhammer Caddis
Championship Caddis
Jakes Green Drake
Christianena Green Drake
Travis Green Drake
Purple Haze
Grumpy Frumpy 
South Fork Chernobyls
PMX  Love this fly!
Jakes tiger Belly
Evans Baby Foam Red.

St. Joe

Flows 1,910 Calder

Hatches
Golden Stones
Yellow Sallies
Green Drake
Brown Drake
PMDs 
Caddis.

Suggested Flies  - See above but also try

St. Joe Special - Tied by local Shuana Hillman
Copper Johns
Brassies
PMD Cripple
Brittens Golden Stone nymph
Serendipity

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We spent Sunday and Monday up at the Kit Price campground on the North Fork of the CDA fishing and generally have a good time. The conditions all along the river are ideal right now.  Hatches have been coming off fairly regularly throughout the day.  The salmon flies have faded, but golden stones,  yellow sallies, green and brown drakes, pmds and caddis were strong throughout the day.  The heat of the day slowed things down in the afternoon, but picked back up in the early evening.  I was seeing more caddis than the week before.  There were a lot of caddis cases on the rocks.  My daughter had a lot of luck swinging an "ovulating caddis".  Caddis will probably be one of the main hatches for the forseeable future.  I tried 6 of our shops golden stone patterns throughout the 2 days.  All the flies brought fish to the net.  I had a success rate of 4-1 if the fly was presented half sunk vs flies floating high on the water. A half submerged, struggling or dead stone fly is a much easier target for the cutts.   Foam attractor patterns such as "Evans Baby Foam" and "South Fork Chernobyls" in #12 have done well also.  Fishing the deeper pools and seam lines next o the fast water produced good size fish.  It looks like we are going to have some great weather for the next 10 days.  The fishing should be great!  Get out and enjoy it.

North Fork Coeur d Alene
Flows;  Prichard 240 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second), Enaville 525 CFS, Cataldo 1,260 CFS
Water Temputure  Enaville  58 degrees, Kit Price Campground 56 degrees

Hatches;

Golden Stones
Yellow Sallies
PMD
Brown and Green Drakes
Caddis

Suggested Flies;

Britten Golden 
Wilson Little Golden
Norm Wood Golden
Henry Fork Golden
Ovulating Caddis
Ballon Caddis
Sledgehammer Green Caddis
Struggling Green Caddis
Sledgehammer Hares Ear
Galloup Tilt Wing PMD
PMX 10-16
Travis Extended Body Green Drake
Jake Drake

St. Joe has also been fishing very well.  Drake hatches were coming off fairly heavily above Avery last week on overcast days.  Golden stones and PMDs have also been hatching regularly.  If you are looking for solitude the ST. Joe has it.  The pass from St. Regis is still closed.  But if you hear otherwise please give us a call.  Moon pass is open.  If you are taking that route stop by the shop in Wallace.

Flows;  2,860 CFS Cataldo
Water Temperature 58 degrees in Avery

Hatches;  Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMDs, Green and Brown Drakes

Suggested Flies;

Britten Golden
Bugmiester Golden
Rogue River Golden
Wilson Little Golden
Flying Ants
Stimmies (orange)
Swisher "Original" PMX
Grumpy Frumpy
Jakes Drake
Christinas Drake

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I spent last Thursday, Sunday and Monday fishing the NF of the Coeur d Alene. It was some of the best fishing I have encountered in the last 2 year on the NF CDA.  The river levels are perfect, water temps are optimal and we have great weather.  If your local rivers are still in runoff ( Montana) head this way you will not be disappointed. We camped at Kit Price on Sunday and Monday, so we experienced the entire day and evening of hatches. PMDs were coming off in the morning, followed by Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Drakes then PMDs. We saw caddis, but not in large numbers.  Low riding Golden Stone patterns worked well as did PMDs and large Klinkhammer patterns. In the early morning and between hatches I tied on some large ant patterns and they brought cutts up from the depth.  The river fished well throughout the entire day tapering off at dusk.  If you have been waiting for the flows to come down, now is the time to get out there.

NF CDA

Flows, 290 CFS Prichard 54 degrees, 1,500 CFS 55 degrees

Suggested Flies - This just a sample, stop by the shop to get the full picture

Kings CDC Golden Stone - This fly was working hard on Sun. & Mon.
Rogue River Golden
Norm Woods Golden
Brittens Golden
Sofa Pillow
Jakes Yellow Sally
Flying Cinny Ant - another fly that was working hard when nothing else was hatching
Black Foam Ant
Jakes Drake
Western Green Drake
Klinkhammers
Galloup Tilt Wing. PMD - of all the PMD patterns I used this was the best.
Royal Trudes, Royal or Lime
South Fork Chernobyl- 12 or smaller
PMX - 14 or smaller

St. Joe River

3,200 CFS Calder no temp

While not at optimal flows The Joe is fishing very well right now.  The river is uncrowned so this should be a great time to go.  Moon Pass from Wallace to Avery is now open.  The pass from St. Regis is still closed.  If you hear that it is open let me know.  Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMDs, & Drakes are all coming off now. Ants are also working.

Suggested Flies

Cinny Flying Ant
Sofa Pillows
Wilsons Golden
Bugmeister Goldens
Travis Green Drake
PMD Cripple
Grumpy Frumpy
PMX

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​Thanks, Gregg

Well it looks like the fly fishing season is starting to get into swing.  The NF Coeur d Alene and The St. Joe are fishing very well right now. The ingredients have come together for some great dry fly action.  The water temperature as of this morning on the NF CDA was 52 degrees. Flows are on the Jt. Joe while not optimize are very fishable. The NF CDA are perfect. We are seeing some strong and diversive hatches throughout the day.  Our weather for fishing should also help. We are going to be cooling down with temps in the high 60's to mid 40's at night for the next 10 days. Mix this all together and you should have a stellar day on the water. 

On both the St. Joe and NF CDA you'll encounter similar hatches throughout the day, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMD, Brown Drakes and Ants. The St. Joe still has some salmon flies and the NF CDA is starting to see caddis!  I love caddis! We have a large selection of caddis dries, emergers and nymph patterns.

I was on the water this morning at 6:00 AM this morning.  There were no hatches while I was there but I did land 6 cutts on PMX's size 12-16.  Each one came out of the depths to take that dry fly.  They must of thought "mmm breakfast". The moral is, even if There are no hatches coming off, tie on something that looks inticing and see what happens. PMX's, Grumpy Frumpy, Chernobyls, Stimmies or Fat Alberts.

The Clark Fork is flowing at 23,000 CFS ( down from 33,000 on 6/2) and St. Regis is at 1,460. Give it another 2 weeks and both should be hitting their stride.

NF Coeur d Alene

Enaville. 1,450 CFS, Prichard 410. Water temp 52.

Suggested Flies 

Jakes Yellow Sally
UM Butt Sally
Norm Woods Golden
Kings CDC Golden
Brittens Golden
Wilsons Little Golden
Black Flying Ant
Black Foam Ant
Flying Cinny Ant
Galloup Tilt Wing PMD
Thorax PMD
Cripple PMD
Black Hi Rider Caddis
Cin. caddis
Champion Caddis
Ballonhammer Caddis
Sedgehammer Caddis
We have a large selection of caddis - stop by to see them all
South Fork Chernobyl 
PMX
Grumpy Frumpy

St. Joe 6,000 CFS Calder. Temp 50 degrees

Suggested Flies

See above, minus the Caddis Flies,  also

Big Sky Salmon Flies
Improved Sofa Pillow
King Kongs
Large Stimmies
Large Chernobyls

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​

Lets start with the St. Joe  (9,200 CFS Calder), St. Regis (1,820 CFS) and Clark Fork at St. Regis (34,000 CFS)  all are flowing at runoff stages.  Your best bet is the NF of the Coeur d Alene.

The NF of the CDA is flowing at 671 CFS in Pritchard, 2,500 CFS Enaville and 4,200 CFS at Cataldo.  The water temps are between 46-50 degrees depending if you are upstream of down stream.  Hatches have been coming off in the morning and midday.  Salmon Flies are out, but not in large numbers.  Yellow Sallies, Golden Stones, PMD's and Brown Drakes are the dominate hatches right now.  BWO's are out in smaller number and can be hit or miss depending where you are.  There are also report of the caddis hatch starting.  The NF of the CDA stretches over 50+ miles from Enaville to its upper reaches.. If a section isn't producing move on.  Some areas will be more productive than others.  I like the sections above Pritchard.  It is less crowded and just plain prettier up there.  Fly Fishing is more than just catching fish.

Our weather has been improving but can still be a little Helter Skelter.  Today is cool temps between 48-58 degrees and possible thunder storms.  On Tuesday we hit 90 degrees.  With this cloud cover and a little cooler weather we could see some good baetis hatches.    The NF CDA is very fishable right now.  If you are in NW Montana and your usual river is in runoff it is definitely worth a trip over here to fish the NF of the CDA.  Bring your boat even!  If you are fishing stones just dress the top of the fly sparingly with floatant.  A half drowned stone are more attractive to the trout because they will still be there when the trout rise to take them.

Here is a list of suggested flies.

Henry Fork Golden
Wilson's Golden
Norm Wood Special
Britten's Golden
Improved Sofa Pillow
Bugmeister
King's CDC Golden -  I like this one because it floats very low in the water
Jake's Yellow Sally
UM Butt Yellow Sally
Gould's Half Down Sally - Another great fly tied to float low in the water
Adult Yellow Sally
Hilda's Spring Creek Mahogany
Kicking Klink
Special Klink
Para Mahogany
Cooper Haze
Galloup Tilt Wing  in Rust, Olive or PMD - Awesome new fly!
PMD Cripple, Basic PMD
Para PMD
Stimmies in orange/yellow
PMX - Swisher Peacock and Original (tan body)
Chernobyl
Trude  
Coachman

Nymph's

Kyles Yellow Sally
Kyles Golden
Galloup War Birds  - another productive new fly
Pats Rubber Legs
Kaufman Stone
Double B Stone Black
Fly Formally Known as Prince
Serendipity

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Thanks, Gregg