I know this is a WA list but many of us on the East side fish the St. Joe and
Cour d Alene rivers so I thought a report would be valid.
I was on the river by 9:00 this morning and found the water flowing clear but
a bit high and fast for good dry fly fishing. The water flow is about half
of what it should be this time of year but I would still give the river
another week or two before I gave it serious consideration.
The morning was characterized by light winds and sparse bug hatches. I still
managed to bring 3 cutts to hand on a size 14 caddis. A green bodied seemed
to work a bit better then a brown but I took fish on both. The fish were all
holding in the side slack waters and only the small fish in the 8-12 inch
range were willing to rise to a dry. If you attempted to fish the current
seam, your fly was quickly swept down river or developed drag almost
immediately. No fish seemed to be holding in this area, or more likely, they
were hugging the bottom dining on nymphys. It would have taken some serious
weight to get down to them as fast as the water was moving.
We tried some water above Prospector Creek but couldn't buy a fish. I know
the fish migrate to and from Lake Cour d Alene but have heard some stay in
the upper reaches year around. We sure couldn't find them today.
After lunch we headed down below Avery and fished the lower river. Even down
in this area the water was fast and not very fishable. We finally opted for
a roadside area by Cataldo and got into some decent water and a lot more
fish.
Overall, not a bad first trip but with limited river fishing days till I have
knee surgery number 3, I was hoping to light them up today. The Caddis was
the best producer followed by a PMD.
If anybody has information about how to fish the St. Joe better during the
early season, I would love to hear it.
Mike W.
Spangle.
