Fly Fishing Report Brought To You By Our Missoula Fly Fishing Guides And Fly Shop Staff.
Enjoy and Good Luck!
Bitterroot River
The Bitterroot river continues to fish good through the changes in weather. We’ve seen warm sunny days and we’ve seen cold snowy days over the last week. Last week the water was rising and this week it has leveled off and dropping which should make for some really good fishing. We’ve been seeing plenty of Skwala’s and good numbers of BWO’s on the cloudy days. The afternoon has been better for dry flies but even the late morning dry fly action has been good.
The water temperature is still cold, so focus on the inside seems and slower walking pace water. Our favorite nymphs so far this spring has been the TJ Hooker, 20 Incher, Olive DB Stone and of course the Pats Rubberlegs. Our go to Skwala dries have been the Peacock Plan B, Olive Plan B, Rogue, Rolling Stone, Mill Creek and the Water Walkers. Be prepared with some BWO’s in size 16-18 during the clouds. We’re also expecting to start seeing more March browns over the next few weeks.
Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips for each hatch
Blackfoot River
The Blackfoot river is still much colder water temperatures than the rest of the big rivers around Missoula. There’s not much to write home about when it comes to dry fly fishing on the Blackfoot river, but the streamer and nymph fishing remains decent. You might see a few fish rising here and there, but subsurface is the best plan of action.
Deep nymph rigs on inside seems and dead drifting streamers are the best strategies for the spring on the Blackfoot.
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Clark Fork River
The Clark Fork river has started to fish much better this week with the dropping flows. Skwala’s and BWO’s have been the name of the game over the last few days.
Our go to dry flies have been the Plan B Olive, Water Walker and the Rogue for Skwalas and Last Chance Cripple, Film critic and thorax for the BWO hatch. The Skwala dry has fished well through the sun and clouds, but be ready for fish eating the BWO’s on cloudy days. We expect to see better numbers of insects as the weather warms up over the next few weeks. Streamer fishing or nymphing is a good strategy for the morning before the water warms up and the fish start eating dries.
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Rock Creek
Rock Creek has been good lately. We’re starting to see more and more Skwala adults and the fish are looking up for them. The bottom end seems to be fishing better for dries than the upper. There’s still not a lot of adult bugs hatching but that should change with the warmup over this week and next week. Expect more Skwala’s, March Browns and BWO’s to start hatching in larger numbers over the next few weeks.
Nymphing and streamer fishing has been the most consistent lately. Nymphing Stonefly nymphs like the Jig Pats, Double Bead Stones and 20 inchers have been the most productive, but of course the good old worm is hard to beat this time of year on all of our rivers. The Kreelex, Sparkle Minnow, Baby Gonga and Sculpzilla’s have been the been good for streamers.
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Spring Hatches
Click any photo below to find out more information on each individual hatch. Includes life cycle, best fly patterns, helpful tips and where to find these hatches in your Western Montana fly fishing adventure.