Pre-runoff Time

Regular contributor to the show, Josh Mills, tells us all about an opportunity to do some great fishing. He refers to it as the pre runoff time. "If you are itching to get out and get on the rivers, one of the best times of the year and one of the more, not heavily fished, is this pre runoff time that occurs between about now until May depending on what river you are on. The rivers come to life a little bit before this gigantic flood of water that is going to happen this year because we have had a great water year. A lot of good snow in the mountains, most basins are over 100% in the West. Also, with the weather that has come in the last week and a half, which we are calling miracle of March, with Northern California, North Cascades, places like that that are getting "feets" of snow where they normally don't get it this late in the season, there is going to be a lot of water coming down, but this March, April, maybe the first part of May depending on overnight temperatures, rivers that come to life like the St. Joe, North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene have this wonderful period of time where fishing catches up for the first 50 to 60 days there is the legendary hatch on some of these rivers that are tough but can be really really amazing. There is the first big stone fly that comes down the river and the fish really key in on them. Also, it is great to throw streamers this time of year, so if you have access to a boat, drift boat or a raft, don't overlook the pre-runoff it can be excellent.