Fly Fishing Report: Kootenai River

With a week of extraordinary rain and cooler temps behind us, a more stable high pressure pattern has settled over the Kootenai River for the immediate future.  Extended forecast has temps in the 80′s and mostly sunny.  This will likely bode well for the fishing.  Last week was wildly inconsistent what with downpours, pressure changes, and weather but look for conditions to become more even for the next several days.  Dishcarge from Libby Dam is still 7000cfs and water temperature in the stilling basin is 61 degrees.  Caddis and small attractor patterns are moving fish in the mornings and hoppers and ants are still the bugs of choice when the day starts heating up.  Look for better action in the morning and late evenings.  Indeed bigger fish are presently very shy during hot, sunny days.  But stick with the big bugs, keep the fly on the water in faster runs and through boulder gardens and bigger fish will occassionally show themselves.  Also, look for pmd spinner falls in riffles during the mornings and concentrate on fishing even currents on inside seams in three to four feet of water.  All in all the Kootenai is in good shape and fishing fair to pretty well.