Tag: Idaho Steelhead Fishing

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Great Winter Action on Idaho’s Clearwater

We just finished up a fantastic January on Idaho’s Clearwater River, and February is already looking to be even better. Over the last month we have seen some fantastic fishing, and although there were some days we struggled it’s was overall a great month of fishing for Idaho’s B Run Steelhead

We are very excited for February, as for us it represents the the final push of our steelhead season. We fish the Clearwater through mid March, and the last month and a half of our season can often be the best for putting a bunch of fish in the boat.

We are now in full on side drifting mode, as it allows us to not only put the rod in your hands, but it’s the absolute best way to put a bunch of steelhead in the boat. There is nothing quite like setting the hook into a pissed off steelhead. Over the last few weeks our number one rig has been pegged hard fish pills from Mad River Manufacturing. These pressured fish seem to prefer the small presentation and this set up has been hard to beat.

We have quite a few open dates over the next 6 weeks, so get in touch with us and let’s get you out on the river for a Clearwater Steelhead adventure, and enjoy the pictures below from an amazing month on the river.

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Starting 2021 in Style! Steelhead on Idaho’s Clearwater!

Today was my first day of 2021 on the river and I couldn’t have been happier about how things went today. Every year my family and I take off to see family for the holidays, and while our days are spent gathering with family and doing some fantastic bird hunting, there is still the draw that brings me back to the river. See 10 days off the water is a LONG time in my world, and I’m always apprehensive on how the day will go. When you spend your life on the water and suddenly the routine is broken it always feels a little strange to “get back” into it.

I’m blessed to have an awesome team and great contacts that keep me informed on what’s happening on the river while I’m gone. Their help is such a blessing, and it’s hard to imagine being able to jump right back into it without having a great team. So, with some great intel, and some earned river knowledge I decided to go with the basics, and fish a stretch of river I know better than most people know the streets in their neighborhood.

What I found today was a great way to get back on the river. Idaho’s Clearwater was in the perfect “steelhead “green” and although we didn’t put up record numbers, we were able to get into fish in all the places they should have been. Side drifting egg imitations, and corky/yarn/shrimp combos were the ticket today. My absolute favorite way to fish this time of year is to side drift. It allows us to cover a bunch of water and pound holes over and over again picking out the biters.

Fishing should remain good all the way through the first half of March. It’s a guarantee we will see some changes and challenges during the next 2 1/2 months, but there is no doubt the second half of the Clearwater Steelhead season is numbers time. Our highest hookup dates always fall sometime between now and the end of February.

We still have some great dates open, but we have been taking lots of calls and filling lots of dates the past few days, so if you are interested in fishing with us this winter/Spring make sure to give Dani in our office a call at 208-669-1569 and she will get you all set up with myself or Barry. Either way you will be in good hands.

Check out the pictures below, and most of all I wish you all a happy new year, and while there are so many challenges ahead of us always remember that God’s got this and trust in him is the only way to truly have peace

Kyle

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Clearwater River Steelhead Report 11/30/20

We took most of last week off for the holiday, but we had boats out a few days. The fishing last week was on the slow side. There were fish to be caught, but it was a grind. I was back on the river Saturday and put a few in the boat, but today things really started to heat up. Today was the best egg bite I have had all month. It was so nice to get into a good batch of fish side drifting.

Below is our weekly steelhead video report. Please make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel while you guys are there, and if you have any questions please make sure you leave us a comment.

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Clearwater River Steelhead Report 10/26/20

This week we had some ups and downs on Idaho’s Clearwater River, but by the end of the week the entire River was fishing fantastic.

The week started out slow, as we had a bunch of rain and river levels quickly rose and water quality suffered. We struggled for a few days but still managed to find some willing fish every day on the water. By the end of the week the water had cleared up and fishing was again going great.

This week we caught fish both drifting bait and single egg imitations, but we did most of our damage late in the week backtrolling plugs and diver and shrimp. Friday and Saturday we found fish in most tail outs we fished, and the key was to cover a lot of water to find pods of fish that were grouped together. Some water was empty and some was loaded!

This week we are looking at some great fishing conditions. The water was high last week, but because of cold temps over the weekend the River has stabilized. Water temperatures will also stabilize this week as we should see some fab weather by Wednesday.

All in all the River looks to be setting up for a fantastic November. We have quite a few open dates in November and with the help of a great teammate, Barry Howard, we are able to run multiple boats every day. Get in touch with us now and let’s get your November and December trips lined up.

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Opening Day on Idaho’s Clearwater River

Today, October 15th 2020 was the traditional opening day of Idaho’s catch and keep season on the Clearwater River. Today is a much anticipated day and signals a changing of the season for us. From today through March our focus on the Clearwater is Steelhead! B Run Steelhead are amazing fish.

We had a fantastic day today despite some challenging conditions. Over the last week the Clearwater region has received quite a lot rain, and for the past few days the army corps has been messing with the flows out of Dworshak Reservoir. This caused some early season high water conditions and we started out our day with flows well over 10,000 Cubic Feet/ Second. This is double the flow we normally see this time of year.

Lucky for us we have been guiding on Idaho’s Clearwater for the past 13 years and we relied on that experience to come up with a winning game plan. Our key to success today was backtrolling Yakima bait Maglips. When the water is up or rising on the Clearwater our steelhead kick their migration into hyperdrive and use the higher flows to cover some river miles. This makes the slow presentation of a backtrolled plug your best bet to consistently put fish in the boat under these conditions.

The Clearwater will most likely be a backtrolling game for the next few days, but as the water comes back to normal levels the side drifting bite should be fantastic.

We have two boats operating on the Clearwater and currently we have open dates, so if your interested in some big Idaho Steelhead make sure to give our office a call and Dani will get your trip all set up.

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February the Best Month for Clearwater River Steelhead?

We often get asked, “what’s the best time to fish Idaho’s Clearwater River?” Often our answer is simply whenever you can get here, but specifically we look at the month of February as one of the absolute best times of the year to fish for the giant B-Run steelhead on the Clearwater.

February is typically when the Clearwater starts to become alive again. With Orofino, Idaho sitting at an elevation of just over 1000 ft spring starts to show in the Clearwater Canyon often long before the surrounding highlands. February also tends to kick off the Spring migration of steelhead that have overwintered both in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers . During the cold water periods of late November, December, and January most of the upstream migration stops and Clearwater steelhead look for deep slow moving water to wait out the cold, but as the water temps start to rise (usually during the last week of January and first two weeks of February) the urge to migrate again takes over. From now through April Idaho’s steelhead will make the final push of their already incredible journey back to their spawning grounds deep in the Selway/Bitterroot wilderness or to the hatchery they were born in.

During February we position ourselves near Orofino, Idaho where the North Fork Clearwater River meets the main stem Clearwater. Dworshak National Fish Hatchery is located here and we are waiting to intercept these fish as they gather near the hatchery of their birth. During February our number one used technique is side drifting bait and single egg imitations. This method allows us to cover lots of water and put our gear in front of lots of willing fish. During February its not uncommon for our boats to see double digit numbers of steelhead slide into the net. So, if you are getting some cabin fever, and ready to hit the water contact us today and lets get you out on a fantastic steelhead fishing adventure on Idaho’s Clearwater River.

To book your next Clearwater River Steelhead trip either give us a call at 208-669-1569 or click on the green Book Online button at the top of your screen. We look forward to spending a day on the water with you!

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Snake River Steelhead

We had a fantastic day in the sun today on the lower end of Hell’s Canyon fishing out of Heller Bar. We ended up putting 8 fish In the net for our two anglers today. The Snake River currently has quite a few fish in it and the fishing is good. We did very well today side drifting eggs and yarn and egg combinations. The water was low today so we fished very light lead and really pounded the slow pocket water near the bank. The water temperature was around 37 which puts these fish in the slower water near the bank. We have open boats next week and will be fishing the Snake through the 15th of February so if you are interested in booking a day get in touch with us.

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Clearwater River Steelhead!

Check out this awesome fish from our day today on Idaho’s Clearwater River!  It’s great to see some fish looking like this late in the season. Overall our day was a little slower today, but we found a few of these beauties to play with. All our Clearwater trips are done as employees of Reel Time Fishing. We have plenty of open dates over the next few weeks and it’s looking to be a great February!  Click here for more Clearwater Fishing Information!

If you don’t have a chance to Steelhead fish with us make sure to catch up with us for a Walleye or Spring ChinookTrip!  It’s looking like a good year for both and we will be there to help get you on fish.  83991CC1-6E51-4053-8381-5B1028317A06

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Clearwater River Steelhead Report

Idaho’s Clearwater River has been fishing fantastic this past week with our boats averaging 7-15 fish landed per day. We have been getting all our fish side drifting both eggs and yarn combinations, and pegged beads. It’s really looking like fishing is going to remain good all winter and we have lots of open dates the rest of the month of January and the Month of February. This is the time of year we experience our most consistent fishing and highest catch rates.  Check out the video below of this weekends crew having a blast catching B-Run Steelhead on Idaho’s Clearwater River.  All our Clearwater trips are done as employees of Idaho Outfitter Reel Time Fishing. For more information on our Clearwater River Fishing trips click Here.

 

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Clearwater River Steelhead Fishing Report

Clearwater River Steelhead

We had a great day Idaho’s Clearwater River yesterday chasing big beautiful B-Run Steelhead.  The river is in prime shape and fishing is good. December and January are two of our most favorite months of the year to fish the Clearwater as the fish have gone into their “winter” mode and are holding in predictable places.  Looking back over the years my boat has had more double digit days during the months of December and January than any other time during our Steelhead season.  All our fish yesterday were caught side drifting eggs and yarn combinations.

During the cold water months of December, January, and February we focus our fishing on the slow and deep portions of most of the holes we fish. Clearwater Steelhead in the winter are trying to conserve as much energy as possible, and because of this slow presentations in deep holes, the slow edge of the seam water, and long gentle tailouts leads to the most success.  Also this time of year we really prefer to fish bait, such as cured roe, as the added smell and taste of good bait will often wake these fish up.

The other reason we truly love this time of year is the lack of competition from other anglers. Yesterday we saw only 3 other boats fishing and only had one drift boat fishing the 7 mile stretch of river we fished.

We have limited openings next week, and then lots of availability during January.  All our Clearwater trips are done as employees of Reel Time Fishing. Give us a call or text at 208-861-0654 to check availability. All final booking is done through Reel Time Fishing. img_0716 img_0750 img_0754