North Fork of Coeur d'Alene in Early Aug - Suggestions
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There will be a lot of tube floaters. That, combined with the august heat, makes your timing unfortunate. Having said that, you will catch fish at limited times. Fishing will be good in early morning until 11:00am, then from 6ish-dark. Middle of the day will be poor. I would fish the upper river from Shoshone up. The conflict here is that the water will be thin and warm so limite your fishing to the head of pools. The lower river from the "Snake pit" down will have a lot more water, but will be warm during the day and that's where most of the floaters go through. As far as flies: Stimulators, hoppers, and parachute Adams will be all you need on the surface. Just go straight forward with the nymphs. These are a special native strain of cutthroat limited to the panhandle of the state and are perhaps the dumbest trout you will ever encounter. If they are feeding, you won't be able to keep them off. If they’re not, it can be very difficult to activate them. In other words, this is no Henry's Fork, so don't over think it. Keep it very basic and take a nap if the fish aren't biting. Stop by the shop in Coeur D' Alene (Castaway 208-765-3133) if you want more specific info and flies. Joe is the most knowledgeable individual on that system anywhere. PM me and I can give you one run you can sit in all day rather than running around. This can be you fall back hole.
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stimulators, elk hair caddis, and smaller mayflies in various colors for an evening hatch. i feel that the nymphing picks up the bigger fish in this river and those around it. i agree with panhandle, any nymph. watch out for animals, saw my only cougar on that river. bring some good beer
G
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North Fork of Coeur d'Alene in Early Aug - Suggestions (Trip Report)
Here's the trip report.
My a wife and I camped from Tue, 8/3 to Fri , 8/6. The temps were in the eighties and the water level was very low, but it rained a bit on Friday morning. However the fishing was good where the deep holes were, and the action usually started around late morning-except once when it was excellent even at 6 AM. Landed fish size ranged from 6" to 13" (picture is attached that my wife took). I also hooked a couple of larger ones and lost them that were maybe around 16" or more. Saw a gear fisherman catch two 18" cutts and threw them back since they are the only C&R fish on the NFCDA. He took a while to remove the hook, so probably he was using barbed hooks.
Flies that worked:
Hoppers, stimulators, caddis imitations, hares ear, green copper John (red one didn't work at all), PMDs in the late evening, leech patterns, small peacock soft hackle, and royal coachman (both dry and wet). The hopper-dropper setup worked very well. The 13" cut was caught on a wet royal coachman using a sink tip during the bikini hatch at 3:30 PM.
Lessons learned:
- Use a stronger tippet when using a leech since the grab is usually very violent. This was re-learned since it has happened to me before at the Rocky Ford
- When nothing works, try nymphing without an indicator by casting upstream and keeping a close eye on the line-it can be a lot of fun. I caught three nice fish back to back after not getting anything for three hours
- When you foul hook a trout on your first cast on a hole, then you know that you will a have a great time on that hole
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Here's the trip report.
My a wife and I camped from Tue, 8/3 to Fri , 8/6. The temps were in the eighties and the water level was very low, but it rained a bit on Friday morning. However the fishing was good where the deep holes were, and the action usually started around late morning-except once when it was excellent even at 6 AM. Landed fish size ranged from 6" to 13" (picture is attached that my wife took). I also hooked a couple of larger ones and lost them that were maybe around 16" or more. Saw a gear fisherman catch two 18" cutts and threw them back since they are the only C&R fish on the NFCDA. He took a while to remove the hook, so probably he was using barbed hooks.
Flies that worked:
Hoppers, stimulators, caddis imitations, hares ear, green copper John (red one didn't work at all), PMDs in the late evening, leech patterns, small peacock soft hackle, and royal coachman (both dry and wet). The hopper-dropper setup worked very well. The 13" cut was caught on a wet royal coachman using a sink tip during the bikini hatch at 3:30 PM.
Lessons learned:
- Use a stronger tippet when using a leech since the grab is usually very violent. This was re-learned since it has happened to me before at the Rocky Ford
- When nothing works, try nymphing without an indicator by casting upstream and keeping a close eye on the line-it can be a lot of fun. I caught three nice fish back to back after not getting anything for three hours
- When you foul hook a trout on your first cast on a hole, then you know that you will a have a great time on that hole
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39 Posts
North Fork of Coeur d'Alene in Early Aug - Suggestions (Trip Report)
Somehow the picture doesn't come up. Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/member-galleries/p41835-cda1.html
Somehow the picture doesn't come up. Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/member-galleries/p41835-cda1.html
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3,615 Posts
North Fork of Coeur d'Alene in Early Aug - Suggestions (Trip Report)
Nice report, thanks! Just one question:
Nice report, thanks! Just one question:
Where did you take your B wife? Sammamish slough?
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