Report 11.1.11

Report Date: 11/1/11

Fishing over the last week remained very good on the Clearwater.  Although for some people fishing was hit or miss our guides consistently put fish in the boat for our clients.  Once again the two most productive methods were back trolling plugs and side drifting bait.  Fishing became a little more difficult toward the end of last week because we were in the middle of weather patterns and had some bright sunny days.  During days when the water was low and the sun was high we had most of our success during the first few hours of fishing and then again during the last few hours of daylight.  When we see these conditions it really pays to fish long hard days searching for the pool that is loaded with fish.

Fly anglers continued to have good success swinging wet flies on the dry line.  During the past week we had most of our hookups on patterns that resemble the many October caddis that hatch this time of year.  It really seemed like patterns that have some copper or a hint of orange produced the best.  Our favorite patters last week were muddler minnow variations with a hint of orange in them.  Still sizes 6-8 seemed to be the best. 

For this week look for fishing to be very good.  We had a really good rain on Sunday night and into Monday morning.  This weather dropped a lot of water and the river came up some and spiked today, Tuesday morning.  This is the pattern we really love!  It seems that every time we get some sort of spike in flows, no matter how small, that it really gets some fish moving and feeling aggressive.  Look for fishing to be very good into this upcoming weekend.  Gear anglers fishing from boats should look for side drifting and back trolling the produce the best results.  Remember that when looking for fish it really pays to know the water well so pick a section and learn it well.  I do not recommend chasing good fishing reports all over the river because by the time that you heard the fishing was good it’s too late.  Bank anglers will have the most success fishing bobber and jig presentations, and once again find water you like and learn it well.  Dedication to your craft will provide great results when you can get a section or hole super dialed in.

Fly angers still have a few good weeks to hook steelhead on a floating line in the Clearwater.  Our water temps have been slowly dropping which tends to keep us swinging on the floater longer into the fall than in years when water temps plummet quickly.  Look for anything that resembles an October caddis to produce well this next week.  As I have said before this is a game of casting and presenting you fly to as many fish as possible, but don’t forget to work the water close to you well.  Don’t be a guy who hucks it toward the middle of the river without working the close water first, as most of us who live here landed many fish with a single hander swinging well before we got into the obsessive spey world.