April is a Difficult Month

The month of April is a difficult month for an addicted anadromous fisher landlocked in the state of Idaho.  Most days are spent reminiscing about the past steelhead season and excitedly checking dam passage counts daily in the hopes that Spring Chinook will soon be here. 

This is the time of year when the fly gear goes into storage and is traded for heavy bait casting gear.  I continually have dreams in which i witness a plug rod explode in the holder as a pissed off hell bent springer tries to take me, my gear, and my boat back down to the Columbia.  I also find myself constantly looking ever so longingly into the bait freezer at the perfectly cured eggs waiting patiently to be cut into golf ball size clusters and force fed to mint bright Chinook.  Bring on springers cause I'm going nuts!!!!!

Pictures like this keeps my hopes up during time like these.

Our Clearwater Season is over

We have wrapped up our spring 2011 steelhead guide season, and I would like to thank the many wonderful folks that shared my boat with me during the season.  We had some really great days of catching and some days were the weather showed us who was boss, but it is my clients that make this dream of mine possible.  Thank you for your support!

At this time we are currently looking ahead to our fall 2011 season.  This is my favorite time of the year!  Fall on the Clearwater is a magical time and something that every angler needs to experience.  We start our fall guide season on September 15th and run through the end of the year.  For anglers looking to swing up a big B- Run on a fly the fall is your time of year.  The Clearwater is world famous for it amazing fall fishery!  We are currently taking bookings for the fall season and some of the prime times are going quick.  We have a full staff of fly and spey fishing guides that will share their expertise with you on our favorite river to make sure you have a quality experience.  You owe it to yourself to book a trip with Clearwater River Company!

Check out our website at www.clearwaterrivercompany.com

Thanks for looking

Kyle

Report for 3/7/11

Last Week:

Fishing and water conditions over the past week have been very sporadic, and lead to some inconsistent fishing results.  The first half of last week fished well for drift boat anglers on the upper river.  Conditions had fully recovered from the weekend cold snap and fishing was consistent through Thursday.  Things changed drastically on Friday morning when the lower half of the South Fork started pumping chocolate milk.  When this happened we were left with only a few miles of fishable water above the mouth of the South Fork.  Anglers that managed to find fish and secure good spots did well, but it was mostly an anchor and bobber fishing game. 

The lower river immediately below Orofino fished well for power boats over the weekend, but the water was just too high and pushy for any success to be had with a drift boat.  Fishing this time of year tends to be a little unpredictable due to the high variability in weather and water conditions. 

This Week: 

Fishing and river conditions will continue to be unpredictable over the coming week.  Rain is in the forecast for the entire week, and fishing will be entirely dependent on what the river does.  There is a ton of fish in the system and if high water holds off we should experienced great fishing over the next week or so.  During this time of year river conditions can become sporadic with the onset of warmer temperatures and spring time conditions.  Anglers should take a look at current flow charts before heading out.  All of this information is linked at the bottom of this page.

Report Date: 2/28/11

Last Week:

During the beginning of the week the Upper Clearwater was fishing great, but by the end of the week unseasonably cold temperatures slowed down the catching substantially.  Monday through Wednesday saw our guide’s consistently catching fish side drifting eggs on the upper river around Kamiah.  The severe winter weather that was predicted for the area seemed to stay just north of the Kamiah area for a few days.   We had really nice warm temperatures and blue sky, but by Thursday our luck ran out.  River temperatures dropped rapidly and the upper river was flowing slush by Saturday Morning.   Cold temps forced us to fish the lower River downstream of Orofino.  Catching was not great, but our guides managed to get multiple fish to the boat on both Saturday and Sunday.  The best bite of the day was between 1pm and dark.  This is often the case during cold weather periods. 

Next Week:

Day and nighttime temperatures are forecast to rise over the next week, and along with that we are supposed to get a decent amount of rain.  This warmer weather will clear the upper river of any ice and should once again lead to consistent catches in the upper river.  Fishing over the next week should be good.  Boat anglers should look to side drifting to produce the most consistent catches wile bank anglers should have continued success fishing float and jig/ bait combinations

Report for 2/14/11

Fishing remained consistent over the past week, although it was a little slower than the two previous weeks.  During the week river flows continued to drop at a slow pace and the river was clearing.  Fishing remained good in all portions of the Clearwater with most of our guides spending the majority of their time above Orofino, but we heard some great reports from downstream of Orofino.  The North Fork continued to pump out a large volume of water making this section of river difficult to fish from a Drift Boat.  Once again side drifting was the most consistent technique.

Report 2/8/11

Fishing over the past week continued to be really good!  Monday and Tuesday fished well on the upper river around Kamiah, but a cold front moved in and drastically dropped water temperatures and the river flowed slush ice on Wednesday, but warmer weather cleared the upper river by Saturday.  These conditions led us to concentrate on the river below the North Fork.  This section of river was on fire during the later part of the week.  We averaged 6 plus fish to the boat for two anglers!  Side drifting eggs was once again the most productive technique during the week.   We are into a great Spring season!  Now is the time to fish the Clearwater! 

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!