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Kootenai Canyon Anglers
Getting the eat with big dries
August 12, 2018
Kootenai Canyon Anglers
Kootenai River Fall Fishing Report 2018
September 23, 2018
Published by KC Anglers at August 25, 2018
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  • Kootenai River Fishing Report
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  • Idaho
  • Idaho Fly Fishing
  • Kootenai River
  • Kootenai River Fishing Report
Kootenai Canyon Anglers

Current News & Conditions Kootenai River

Late August finds the Kootenai River already beginning the transition from summer into fall, and while we’re not too excited to be that much closer to winter, autumn is our favorite fishing season here, hands down.  The scorching days go away, the kids go back to school, and suddenly our already uncrowded river becomes deserted-just the way we like it. The Kootenai is flowing at 9,000 cfs out of Libby Dam and water temps are ranging from 59-64. Ambient temps are starting to drop though, and river temps will soon follow; we are seeing night temperatures into the high 30s and 40s. The flows are scheduled to descend to 6,000 cfs on the 1st of September, which will give us a whole new river, causing more conducive currents to form in some spots, less conducive currents in others, and fish will rearrange themselves accordingly.

Overall it’s been a great summer fishing season, trout are looking healthy and we’ve enjoyed some of the better insect hatches throughout the system in years, mostly caddis and mayflies. The big bug terrestrial action has been excellent river-wide for the last month and will continue on into September, with fish responding to twitched or skittered flies with explosive takes.

We’re starting to get some smaller items on the menu too. We saw our first of the dreaded micro ants on the river yesterday, a bug in the 18-22 range that must taste like nectar, because they bring every fish in the river up, whitefish included. It takes a trained eye to pick out a quality trout to target from the rest of the noses dimpling the river like rain, a fun game in itself. In the beginning you can often get them to eat something big and different, but once they start keying in on ant, it becomes one of the more maddening small dry games we know.

Hecubas are also starting to come off sporadically on the lower river, and it’s another one of those hatches that fish key in on like heat seeking missiles. When they do, it’s game on. No trouble seeing these guys, they are a size 12 mayfly with a mottled wing and amber body.

And, with some long overdue rain in the forecast this week, we should start to see the blue winged olives out and about as well. Our fall BWO’s run smaller than the spring variant, in the 16-18 size range. Fish really love the fall olive too. So bring on the drizzle!

It’s not just the olives that need moisture. Despite a record snowpack, we’ve had almost no precipitation since snowmelt. It’s crackly out there, and smoky from myriad nearby fires. There have been several days recently when the smoke was thick enough to create an artificial cloud-cover, which seemed a silver lining on the river, as the bigger fish were more comfortable coming up. Even so, the real thing would be much preferred, and it’s good to see rain in the forecast.

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canyondrifters

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Kootenai Canyon Anglers

canyondrifters

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Jan 1

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Is it time for our annual instagram post, already? Time does fly when you’re having fun!  Happy New Year’s amigos. Thanks to all who joined us for our 2022 season and we look forward to having you back. Snowpack is already looking stout, pre-runoff fishing in our sights.
#makeyourownalgorithmin2023

Is it time for our annual instagram post, already? Time does fly when you’re having fun! Happy New Year’s amigos. Thanks to all who joined us for our 2022 season and we look forward to having you back. Snowpack is already looking stout, pre-runoff fishing in our sights.
#makeyourownalgorithmin2023
...

60 7

canyondrifters

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Jul 11

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Sometimes you just need to drop anchor and get your feet wet.

#wadingisntjustforthebirds

Sometimes you just need to drop anchor and get your feet wet.

#wadingisntjustforthebirds
...

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canyondrifters

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Jun 1

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Pre-runoff trips are in the books. Mid-late April Kootenai River fishing was outstanding and the May trips on the Missouri River were lights out with low flows. Thanks to all who joined us.

Snowpack sits at 210% on June 1 for the Kootenai River basin.  We are in full release mode out of the dam and tributaries are pumping.  We will now wait patiently for tributary flows to get fishable. 
#toobigtofish

Pre-runoff trips are in the books. Mid-late April Kootenai River fishing was outstanding and the May trips on the Missouri River were lights out with low flows. Thanks to all who joined us.

Snowpack sits at 210% on June 1 for the Kootenai River basin. We are in full release mode out of the dam and tributaries are pumping. We will now wait patiently for tributary flows to get fishable.
#toobigtofish
...

54 4

canyondrifters

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Apr 19

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Boats are out of the barn and bugs are on the table.  #rustoff

Boats are out of the barn and bugs are on the table. #rustoff ...

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