WATER TEMP:  MID 50’S TO LOW 60’S

CDA FLOW: 605 CFS @ CATALDO

ST JOE FLOW: 1,020 CFS @ CALDER

CLARKFORK MT: 8,820 CFS @ ST REGIS

SPOKANE: 866 CFS @ POST FALLS

I think it’s safe to say summer is officially here.  Fourth of July has come and gone, the weather is back to hot and sunny, and our town is popping! All the rivers have returned to normal shape after our rainstorm a couple weeks ago. The Clark Fork is in prime shape now.  This next week on the Clark Fork should be fantastic. Flows are looking perfect. Golden stones are still an option, the caddis hatches are coming on pretty strong, lots of PMDs, quite a few beetles and not too far off from hopper season. Nymphing in the mornings or streamer fishing early on any of the rivers will still produce well. With the hot, sunny weather the afternoons and mornings will fish best when the shade is on the water.

The Cda is pretty low now but still fishing pretty good. The fish are starting to migrate into the faster riffles and runs. Look for shade or fast, oxygenated water. Smaller nymphs are producing well now.  Perdigons, small Pmds, smaller stonefly nymphs, like Twenty-Inchers or Princes. With the caddis coming on, soft hackle fishing in the riffles is really good now too. Put two smaller soft hackle emergers on, and you can swing them down and across a riffle in the afternoons and evenings and have great success. If you are searching and wanting to throw dries, a smaller golden Chubby Chernobyl with a beetle or ant dropper is a great combo now. Start twitching your Chubbys quite a bit. Lots of folks I talk to that fish Chubbies don’t twitch them. Watch any golden stone or hopper for that matter, and they do not sit still. Same with any terrestrial, beetles especially. Once they hit the water, they move a lot.  A caddis with a soft hackle is a standard setup for the afternoons now. A size 16 X-Caddis with a size 16 Pheasant Tail soft hackle in the afternoons and evenings will crush.

The St. Joe is fishing fantastic. Getting crowded though. The weekends are pretty full, and you’ll need to get on early or fish late as the mid-day crowds are pretty bad on the weekends. But that is pretty normal for this time of year on the Joe and Cda. Mid-week is fine and less crowded. The flows are perfect and a fair bit better than the Cda. The upper stretches above Avery are fishing great and much more accessible with the lower flows. This upper stretch gets lots of pressure, but there is no shortage of fish up there. The canyon is deep and shaded well. Water temps up there are much better than you’ll find on the lower end, where it’s more open and the water is exposed to the sun. But the lower is fishing well too. Great pocket water fishing and lots of structure and is very different than the lower stretches below Marble Creek.  But this is where floating is better and gives you more access to the river.  

The Spokane is pretty low now and the water temps are climbing to where it will be pretty sparse for trout fishing here pretty quickly. With the low flows and hot weather the water coming over the Post Falls Dam will be pretty warm and the trout that were there a few weeks ago are now seeking cooler water downstream. But the Idaho and Spokane Valley stretches can be fun small bass fishing once it warms up.  Poppers and smaller crayfish patters will be the go-to.

Summer is here and there are no shortage of places to go. The rivers are all in shape, the lakes are still fishing great, and maybe you want to get a quick morning shot in when it's cooler, and then refreshments and bbq on the patio in the afternoon? Our days are long now and give you lots of time to do what you want. As we move into the hotter part of summer, you’ll want to pick your times wisely as mid-day fishing can be pretty tough with lots of people out. But that's ok. Everyone is out enjoying our great summer months here. Hope you guys are getting out and having great fishing. See you in the shop soon!

Tight lines,

Tyler