Promising fish outings aplenty

Fishing on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene has been excellent, and the weather looks to be spectacular for the next few days, said Mike Beard at Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene.

"During the cloudy spells the green drakes, bwo's (blue-winged olives) and flavs have been hatching and the fish have been keying on them," Beard said. "If you don't see as many bugs flying around during the sunny days try throwing a brighter body attractor like a stimulator, turks tarantula, or other Chernobyl pattern."

If fish are being very selective a copper john or pheasant tail under a big dry should produce some strikes, Beard said.

"This year the fish have seen a little more pressure early so downsizing tippet and fly size should help depending on how keen the fish are," he said.

The St. Joe River is hovering right now around 3,500 cubic feet per second, which is still high enough that wading can be pretty tough.

"The water is clear and there are a lot of bugs out though so spot fishing some of the bigger pools can be great," Beard said. "The one good thing about having high water is it concentrates the fish."

He added, "If you can find a big, slow pool with rising fish you probably won't have to move too much."

Overall, the fishing is great compared to the last few years in early June.

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"So you might as well take advantage of it now," Beard said.

Both lake and river fishing is as good as it gets right now, said Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden.

"Fishing will be great until it gets really hot this summer," Frasca said. "Fishing is superb everywhere."

Frasca said he fished the Coeur d'Alene River last week and had good luck at all stops.

He said green drakes, size 16 pale morning duns (PMDs) and stone flies are coming off.

Frasca suggested trying yellow or orange stimulators.

Frasca said river levels have tapered, so it's also a great time to wade. He said there's opportunities for great fishing on all stretches of the river.

"You don't have to go up too high - maybe from Prichard on down," Frasca said. "The lower parts probably have bigger fish."

He said the bass, pike and crappie bites are all still good on area lakes.

For crappie, try leech fly patterns or maribou jigs.

With bass, try 4-inch worms.

"The smallmouth (bass) are staging up to spawn," Frasca said.

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Steve Holweg of Cabela's said he's heard great reports from anglers.

On Hayden Lake, bass and kokanee are hitting.

The bluegill, crappie and catfish bites are also happening on Hauser and Fernan.

For bass, Holweg suggests using plastics and crank baits.

Lake Roosevelt in eastern Washington is also starting to fish well, he said.

"When we have weather fronts move through, that can slow things up a bit, but fishing should pick up with nice weather predicted ahead," he said.