The Kootenai's star is on the rise. It began shining several years ago with the imposition of a 13- to 18-inch slot in the upper 30 river miles from Libby Dam (Koocanusa Reservoir) to Kootenai Falls. Two years ago fishery managers increased the slot to 13 to 24 inches on upper 4 miles, from the mouth of Fraser River to the dam. The result has been a slow but steady increase in the overall average size of trout caught, from a 10- to 12-inch average up to about 15 inches. Knowledgeable anglers here believe it will only get better.

The Kootenai is a big, strong river. Expect flows topping 10,000 cfs anytime; flows in excess of 15,000 are common. Regardless, the river is fast, deep, and difficult to read, in general tough to negotiate on foot. It's best fished from a boat. Floating affords easy and safe access to many of the more productive edges, smaller channels, below islands and so forth. Beware China Rapids, which is for experts only, and riding down Kootenai Falls is suicidal. The rest of the river is a piece of cake.

Hatches are limited in number but emergences tend to be strong and long lasting. Midges, Baetis, PMDs and a variety of caddis make up the hatch regimen. Ants are hot items in summer and fall.

Trout tend to pod up during any emergence, and yet pods do not show up everywhere. The secret is learning where, since pods tend to show up in the same spots whenever bugs start popping. As a rule, the largest trout fall to specialists using gear and tactics designed to probe the deepest holes, runs and slots. Night fishing with flies and lures designed to tempt big trout is without question the surest way to hook a trophy.

Spin fishers do well with light-action rods and lines, and the usual standard lures and jigs. To target big fish, rig with stout line and upsized baits that run deep.

Access is good from the dam past Libby to the falls off the frontage road; busy U.S. 2 makes access more difficult but not impossible below the falls.

SOUTH FORK SNAKE
The South Fork Snake, the 40-mile tailwater below Palisades Dam, is rated by many as the top cutthroat fishery in the West for good reason: With Yellowstone and Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat, rainbows and browns, the trout population exceeds 7,000 per mile in spots. Trout average 15 to 17 inches but there are lots of fish bigger than that. Experienced float fishers often catch-and-release 20 to 30 trout or more each on a good day.

There is little access from the banks for wade fishing, but plenty of spots for float fishers to get out and wade. Counting the put-ins at the dam, Mennan Buttes and the confluence of the Henry's Fork, there are 10 launch sites, enough to arrange floats to suit any whim or schedule.

July and August are prime dry-fly months. The Salmonfly hatch kicks things off, followed in short order by golden stones, yellow sallies and PMDs. Any significant hatch tends to lure cutthroats by the dozens to sample the surface feast. Common is the sight of a shallow flat literally covered with rising trout.

Experienced anglers know the futility of attempting to target the middle of such madness. Their dilemma becomes how to sort the wheat from the chaff, picking off individual feeding fish.

Grasshoppers are the main attraction from mid-August through fall. Common is to find even the river's heftiest trout blasting 'hoppers blown into the river on the hot afternoon wind.

Nevertheless, prime time for head hunting is October and November, when the brown trout spawning urge begins to rev. The game is pitching and stripping big streamers, 4, 5 inches, even longer, heavy rods and sinking lines; there's nothing easy or relaxing about it, but the rewards are high. The South Fork owns the Idaho state record for brown trout (26 pounds plus).