It feels like this might be the final weekend of hot summer weather, although really who knows anymore? We could easily get another week of extreme heat during September. But as much as I can’t wait for cooler temperatures and fall to arrive (which it looks like it could start cooling down next week), I’ll enjoy the chance to get out and wet wade a few more times. The Spokane River is still low, very low, with flows right around 900 cubic feet per second (cfs). Recently, Avista started releasing water out of Lake Coeur d’Alene to draw lake levels down. So that brought a bump in water flows this week (from ~700cfs to 900cfs). Once we start getting some rain, the river will steadily start to rise again, but for now conditions are prime for getting out and fishing the river on foot.
What’s one of the best places to fish on the Spokane right now? Riverfront Park. I’m not joking around! My wife and I were out there the other day and there were several large cruising redband trout and lots of massive largescale suckers to try your luck with. You don’t need waders or wading boots; in fact, we’ll just go fishing before/after grabbing a bite to eat in downtown. It makes for a fun date night!
We were also down at Riverfront Park last weekend, fishing for largescale suckers in the morning. Talk about a fun challenge trying to hook into one of these with a fly pattern. You can stand on one of the foot bridges and watch these huge fish swim around just beneath you, feeding on detritus on the bottom of the river. I like using a brightly colored nymph, something that I can see in the water, and I’ll get the fly onto the bottom of the river and drag it in front of the sucker. You have to keep a close on the fish and make sure it eats your fly before setting the hook. It’s easy to snag these fish, but it’s all together a much tougher challenge getting them to eat your fly, and fly fishing works with these fish.
I was having a hard time getting these suckers to take my fly during that morning. The water was really calm, and the fish were getting spooked every time the fly hit the water. So, I lengthened my leader by a few feet, went to very small tippet (6X), and tied on a lighter nymph. Then I found a happily feeding largescale sucker eating algae (maybe?) on top of a sunken concrete pipe. I made a cast and slide the nymph closer to the fish and once it saw the fly and slowly swam over and ate it. Now, fighting that fish on 6X was crazy fun and standing on top of a bridge added to spectacle, if you want to check out how that went, I made a short video and uploaded it to YouTube:
Fly fishing for largescale suckers in Riverfront Park is such a fun time, and it will improve your skills at sight fishing for fish and how to “read a fish’s behavior.” Not to mention, all you need is a fly rod, some nippers (or nail clippers), a spool of tippet, and a couple flies and you’re good to go. Laid back, fun fishing.
Now, maybe you also want to check out some other areas along the Spokane River this weekend, where should you go? Well, anywhere from Sullivan Road down through Riverside State Park is fishing well (or…as well as the Spokane fishes). Many of the trout are holding close or near to the faster/turbulent water, so look for any runs, rapids, riffles, and pocket water and spend your time fishing that stuff.
People ask me a lot how to fish pocket water on the Spokane River, and I get it because wading the river and trying to step across the slippery ass boulders is really tough. However, right now the flows are still very low which means getting into the river (with a pair of felt bottom wading boots) and moving from spot to spot is as easy as it will get. There’s a lot of information to cover on how to fly fishing in pocket water, so I always encourage people to check out some blog articles I typed up about the subject:
I also want to help people out with fishing pocket water because we have the Spokane River Scavenger Hunt coming up on September 14th (starting at 8:00am over at the Clocktower at Riverfront Park) It’s a fun, free fly fishing event that is not so much a competition but more like a chance to hang out with other anglers, learn how to fly fish the Spokane (or learn how to fly fish in general) or show your skills at catching various fish species on the river (and maybe share tips with other people along the way). So, consider taking part in the event, and if you need more details, they are available here. To help with sharing tips, here’s a photo I took the other day of some pocket water on the Spokane:
In the photo above, most of the trout can be found where that white water plunges into that deeper water. Water temperatures are around the low 60’s and so these trout are still seeking out areas where they can pack on the pounds, and riffles, rapids, runs, and pocket water provide a steady source of food for them. If there is deeper water near areas, like pocket water, then you really increase your chances of catching some trout. When you find a good spot, like the one in the photo above, take your time and look it over. Pick out places where fast and slow water meet, and where shallow water changes to deeper water. Use two fly rigs, like dry-droppers because these trout are still mainly feeding subsurface. Move through the water slowly and really pick it a part with your flies.
Another event coming up is a Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited chapter meeting on September 17th (starting at 5:30pm over at the Hive at 2904 E Sprague). It’s open to everyone (you don’t have to be a TU member) and it’s a great chance to hear about conservation projects going on for the Spokane River watershed and other news about the fishery. I’m also planning on being there so if you have any questions about fishing the river feel free to ask me. More info about the meeting available here.
There’s also another Spokane Riverkeeper Cleanup Walk and Talk on September 17th (starting at 5:00pm at Upriver Park). This walk and talk is with Bea and Jim Harrison of the Spokane Audubon Society. Bea and Jim will help guide your eyes to the many birds, large and small, that depend on our beautiful Spokane River. Feel free to ask them any questions you may have. Bea and Jim are exceptional naturalists and bird enthusiasts who have devoted years to learning all they can about our region and the birds that live and breed here. Bags will be on hand if you’d like to join us picking up any litter we find along the way. More information available here.
Again, check out the details about the upcoming Spokane River Scavenger Hunt, and if you have any questions about it, please email me at Marc@SpokaneFallsTU.org
You don’t have to be a pro fly fisher to take part in this event, in fact even if you have never fly fished before you will have a great time meeting up with other anglers and learning how to fly fish the Spokane River. If you need fly fishing equipment, please email me. Hope to see you there!
...Oh, and if you are already planning on also taking part in the scavenger hunt, you should also check out this video that I made that goes into details about fishing the Upper Spokane River:
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