Try prospecting for fish with two-fly setup

COEUR d'ALENE - The St. Joe River is fishing really well and is wadable now, said Pat Way, of Orvis Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene.

"It's been fishing good from sunup to sundown," Way said.

Those headed down this weekend should try a two-fly setup, with about two or three feet of separation, he said.

"It's a good way to prospect for fish," he said. "Fish in a river system are generally lazy."

Up top with the two-fly setup, he said, fisherman can try a Chernobyl ant foam fly.

Down below, he said, try a prince nymph or pheasant tail weighted with a brass or tungsten bead.

Streamer fishing with an imitation sculpin has been effective on the St. Joe, he said.

"You want to stay pretty close to the bottom" with the sculpin, Way said.

As for where to go on the St. Joe, Way said from Calder upstream is productive.

"The whole drainage is a wonderful fishery," he said.

Like the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, the St. Joe is all catch-and-release for cutthroat.

While the recent heat wave slowed fishing down a bit on the Coeur d'Alene, it has picked back up, Way said.

Those who fish the lower reaches during the day will encounter people floating the river.

Way recommended fishing early or getting upstream of Shoshone Creek.

Bud Frasca, owner of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden, said fly fishermen on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene can have success with midges in the mornings.

"Streamers are still working well," he said.

During the day, he said, try crane flies and pale morning duns.

"In the evening we've got caddisflies," Frasca said.

He likes to get up in the tributaries.

The Clark Fork River is another option for fly fisherman, said Way at Northwest Outfitters.

"People are really starting to distribute," he said.

As for Lake Coeur d'Alene, Jordan Smith at Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop said chinook salmon can be had off East Point.

Smith said the chinook are 50 to 65 feet deep.

As a first option, try using an 11-inch flasher with a herring behind it, Smith said.

A second option is the flasher with a big squid behind it, he said.

The lake's pike are in 6-10 feet of water.

Spinnerbait in chartreuse or orange is best, Smith said.

Go after pike in the back end of big bays, Smith said.

Smallmouth bass fishing on the lake and Hayden Lake continues going strong, he said.

Try a twin-tail jig with a one-quarter ounce football head. Hot jig colors include salt and pepper and watermelon with black and red flake.

The jigs imitate crawfish.

"That's what the bass are feeding on right now," Smith said.