NF and SF Coeur d Alene River Report

A nice high pressure system moved in and it produced some spectacular days of fishing.  On Saturday I drove up the NF CDA river as far as the road allowed me to go, Kit Price Campground.  The road was a little thick in the shaded portions but melted where the sun is hitting it. The photo above was taken at the entrance to Kit Price CG.  In the higher elevations there is still a lot of snow. But even with all that snow I still saw a lot of variety of bug activity, but no rising fish.  Midges were out after 11:00 until 3:00, March Browns and even a caddis or 2 made an appearance.  I used a large, beaded hares ear  to imitate a March Brown and that did the trick.  But for 80% of the time I streamer fished.  While I did not get a large number of fish, I did catch some large, fat, healthy Cutts in the 15-18' range.  The water is very clear right now so you can do some site fishing.  Look for deep holes of slack water on the edge of currents or where tributaries are entering the water.  I used a very slow retrieve or just held the fly in the current and flicked the tip of the rod to give it some movement.  This produced a few attacks and hook ups.   I had success on #4 Lil' Kim, #6 Mini Sex Dungeon, #6 Black Bead Head Wooley Bugger and #4 Complex Twist.  The water temps was between 38 and 42 degrees so these fish are still going to be sluggish.

​On Monday my buddy Keith from the 1313 Club in Wallace joined me on an afternoon trip to the SF CDA.  It was sunny, warm with air temps in the 50's and water temps right at 40 degrees.  Just like on Saturday the fish were in the deep runs and holes.  Streamers worked best with a slow retrieve. 

​Over the next week a series of small weather disturbances will be moving through the area.  If we don't get to much rain and temps are in the 40-50's we could start to see some BWO's and Skawalas.

​The shop is currently closed and will open in late April.  We are OPEN for guiding though.  If you are interested in a trip call me at 714-222-4852.