Kootenai River Report / June 10-17,2017/GoFlyfishMontana.com

Dave Blackburn Blog, Fishing Reports Leave a Comment

River Flow: 24,900 cfs, 8-feet visibility, 51 degrees F.

Inflow from Lake Koocanusa: 61,000

Hatches: March Browns, Grannom Caddis, Blue Wing Olives, Little Blue Quills, Large Carpenter Ants, some Pale Morning Duns starting to show in the afternoons.
Effective Patterns: Parachute Adams, Standard Adams, Caddis pupa, Peacock Caddis, Beadhead Prince, Dark Wooly Buggers

Guide report: Kootenai is at its last peak of Sturgeon Flows and is slated to drop on Monday to 20kcfs. River temps are warming and hatches are starting to pick up. After the tremendous snowpack last winter we will be having higher than normal flows for the season which is great for the fish! More food and more room to spread out, flows in the 16-18kcfs range for July and August will be the norm. These are mid-range flows most gravel bars will be covered will limit wade fishing areas. Float fishing will be very productive. We recently hit 20 fish on a half-day float from Libby Dam to the Osprey takeout with most taken using nymphs and buggers. We expect that the fish will begin to look up with the decreasing discharge from Libby Dam this week. Meanwhile tributaries we float are still high but clear and fishable for the most part. Lake fishing has been most productive using dry flies. Some Pike and Bass are to be had as well on area lakes.

 

 

 

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