Tuesday, May 31, 2011

High, Dirty Water....For A While




Hey Angling Brothers and Sisters,


I'd love to say that things are looking great for the June 15th opening in the East Kootenays but I'm not going to lie to ya. The Elk River is high and is only going to get higher with record snow packs for this time of year still being observed (see link below)




The West Kootenays will be limited to the Columbia River and will fish well on the warmer, less windy days. The water will be high the whirlpools and suckholes will be deep but the fish will be more condensed in the slack water and back eddy areas of the river. The caddis hatch will be a bit behind due to the inclimate weather.


The East Kootenays (Elk, Wigwam, Fording, Michel Rivers) will be in rough shape until mid July so if your keen to get some angling in the Columbia would be my reccommendation up until that mid-July period when the Elk opens. That being said the Columbia River will likely have caddis hatches persisting through most of July due to the late spring.


In the meantime tie some streamers and get ready to battle the high water or head west for some caddis on the top.