Kootenai River Flow: 20,000 Cubic Feet per second, 8+ foot visibility, 49 degrees; this will be the peak flow for the 2019 season. Scheduled to start dropping to 7k on the 20th of June.
Koocanusa Inflow: 20,000 cfs
Fisher River Flow: 422 cfs
Yaak River Flow: 655 cfs
Thompson River: 585 cfs
Hatches: BWO’s, Little Blue Quills, Chironomids, Caddis, Flying Ants, PMD’s, various Stones increasing in the Troy reaches.
Effective Patterns
Dry: Elk Hair Caddis #14-18, Parachute Adams #14-20, Purple Haze #16-20, Flying Ant #10-14, Tan Stimulator #8 and 10, Griffiths Gnat, small Golden and Olive Stones, Standard Adams, Red Quill,
Nymph and Streamers: Da Bomb, Beadhead Prince, Pheasant Tail, Stones and Midge Pupa. Black/Olive Conehead Wooly Buggers, Kokanee Killers, Thin Mint Buggers, Stone Bomb
Fishing Report: Water temps are slowly, but surely, on the rise! We are up to 49 degrees below the dam and the fish are starting to act accordingly. Nymphing and Streamer fishing are still proving to be most productive in the mornings, but be on the lookout for risers any time after lunch. The warmer temps during the late afternoon have been granting us with some excellent BWO hatches.
Don’t snub the whitefish! They are actually in the grayling family and love to take flies and provide early season action, tonic for cabin/spring fever!
We have guides available, so get yourself on the books and come catch some of these Kootenai River Beauties with us! Also, come in and check out the fly shop for current patterns and all your fly fishing needs (and wants!)
About Dave
Dave Blackburn started tying flies and fly fishing at the age of 10 and has been fishing and guiding the Kootenai River in Montana for more than 25 years. He graduated from West Virginia University with a BS in Forest Resource Management with an emphasis on water quality and aquatic ecology. He traveled westward and ended up in Montana on the banks of the Kootenai in 1981 where he now resides with his wife, Tammy. He is on the board of directors of the Kootenai Valley Trout Club. He has been a past director of the the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana and the Montana Council of Trout Unlimited. Dave chaired the Upper Kootenai River Preservation Society, which was instrumental in defeating the Jennings Rapids Dam project. Dave is a FFF-certified casting instructor and a contract tyer for Umpqua Feather Merchants. He teaches fly tying and fly fishing at Flathead Community College. His photos and articles have appeared in Flyfisherman, Fly Rod and Reel, and The Flyfisher magazines.