Monday, January 31, 2011

Weekend Fishing

Fishing over the weekend was really good.  On Saturday my boat landed 8 of 11 fish hooked, with one client even landing a 40" 20# monster!  Not a whole lot more to add other than the river is currently fishing great and anyone interested in fishing should get in touch with us and check out our web page at http://www.clearwaterrivercompany.com.  This is going to be a great spring season!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

1/26/11

The Clearwater is back!  After about a week of high dirty water the river fished well yesterday with me and a buddy going 6-7!  Although the river is still quite high, we were surprised by the quality of the fish we landed.  We landed two bucks that were in excess of 15 pounds that looked like they were fish from October.  Bright and full of vigor.  We found a few of our fish in spots we had never fished before, but let a few casts rip because they looked fishy.  In high water anglers should treat the river like a new beast and keep an open mind when looking to hook steelhead.  These fish could be anywhere and covering holes thoroughly is the key to success.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

1/20/2011

I decided to take a drive down to the lower river this morning to get an idea of how it was rebounding from the blowout over the last weekend.  I was pleased to find out that although really high (salmon fishing flows), it fishable with about 3-three feet of visibility. 

Currently the flow at Spalding is right around 30,000 cfs, but with good visibility the river should kick out some fish.  Over the next few days it should improve even more.  Fishing during high water can be very different than fishing under normal flows.  To be successful anglers should concentrate on slower moving water near banks and obstructions.  While they might not look like much these calm pockets can hold quite a few fish at time.  Remember that during high, but fishable flows, steelhead will move like crazy.  Targeting these fish in their natural travel lanes can be very productive.  Plugs tend to shine in these conditions.  Anglers can backtroll plugs directly into the narrow slots near banks and cove the water very effectively.  Don't let high flow keep you off the river!  All it takes is thinking a little outside of the box and great success can be found!

Kyle Jones

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Weekend Forcast

We are focasted to recieve a very substantial ammount of rain over the next week.  As much as 2-3 inches of rain are expected to fall during the next four days.  This rain is falling on snow, and will cause a substantial increase in river flows and turbidity. 

Based on past knowledge i think the river will be out of shape starting tomorrow, and will continue to be that way until the early to middle part of next week.  Once flow subside fishing should be really good, as high flows pull fish up river.  When "fresh" fish start moving into new holding lies they compete with fish that are already occupying those lies.  This leads to more aggressive behavior, and consequently better fishing.  If fish are jockeying for position with each other they are much more agitated and more likely to strike out at invaders, like flys and lures. 

Due to this flush look for the second half on January to fish very well.  We could very well see some of the best fishing of the year in the next few weeks.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

January 4, 2011

Headed out to try and get my first steel of the new year swinging flys.  Weather and water temps were really cold.  Air temps barely over 30 degrees F and water temps hovering around 35 degrees F.  These are tough conditions for the steelhead fly fisher.  No players found today, but I take my lickings on my own terms, swinging for steelhead with a two handed fly rod.

This spring looks to be very promising!  We had a stellar fall and fishing remained really good well into December.  We typically start to warm up near the end on January.  This causes our fish to once again continue migrating up the river.  As water temps improve into the upper 30's and 40's we will see a major improvement in fishing!