Missoula Fly Fishing Report
Bitterroot River

Missoula Fishing Report 4/14

by MAngler

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 fishing has been incredible this week up until a few days ago when the flows bumped and slowed fishing down. The dry fly fishing with Skwala’s, March Browns and BWO’s was some of the best fishing we’ve seen this Spring so far. Big fish and dry flies, what more can you ask.
We’re hoping flows level off a bit with some cooler weather on tap and cool nights. Keep an eye on flows over the next few days and hope for a level or dropping trend. Be prepared with Skwala’s, March Browns and BWO’s.


Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips for each hatch

Bitterroot Streamflow

Blackfoot River

Fishing on the Blackfoot river has picked up a bit over the week. Still mostly a nymph and streamer game but we have been hearing a few reports of decent dry fly fishing on March Browns. Like the rest of the Missoula rivers, the Blackfoot flows have been rising steadily over the last few days. We’re hoping the flows level off or begin to drop over the next week with the cold front moving in.
Focus your time on inside seems with heavy nymph rigs and slowly retrieved streamers.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Blackfoot Streamflow

Clark Fork River

The Clark Fork river flows have bumped over the last few days. While fishing still stayed fairly consistent, the water clarity has started to turn a bit darker. As with the rest of the rivers, we hope to see the flows level off as cooler weather moves in early this coming week.
The March Brown and Skwala dry flies was the name of the game and we expect that to continue in the coming week.
We’ve also started to hear a lot of good streamer fishing with patterns like the Double Fuego, Dirty Hippie, Mongrel Meat and Sparkle Minnows.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Clark Fork Streamflow

Rock Creek

Rock Creek continues to fish good even through the rising water. The dry fly fishing has really picked up with plenty of Skwala’s, March Browns and Nemoura’s.
The Nymphing and Streamer fishing has stayed consistent and should continue to produce fish for the coming weeks.
If flows level off, the fishing should be really good up here this coming week.
We’ve been hearing good fishing from the lower end all the way to the top, but a little better dry fly fishing on the lower half.


Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Rock Creek Streamflow

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.

Best Skwala Patterns
Best March Brown Patterns
Top BWO Patterns
Best Nemoura Patterns
Capnia Overview
13 Tips For Fly Fishing Streamers
Missoula Fly Fishing Report
Bitterroot River

Missoula Fly Fishing Report 4/7

by MAngler

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 fishing has been inconsistent over the last 3 days or so with rising flows followed by snow. The river flows have leveled off and started to drop which should bring a little more consistency over the next few days.

Even through with the rising water and cold snap, the fish were still eating dries, you just had to work a little harder for the dry eats. We’ll see what the weather does over the next week but it looks like we’ll continue to see good fishing in the coming weeks on dries.

We’re still focusing on Skwala dries, but more and more March Browns are showing up and fish are taking notice, especially in the cloudy weather. Don’t forget to have some BWO patterns handy in the clouds as well.



Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips for each hatch

Bitterroot Streamflow

Blackfoot River

Fishing on the Blackfoot river has been slow over the last few days with rising water and a major cold front that moved in over the last few days. Rising water flows and dropping water temperature is not a good combo for the Blackfoot river fishing in the spring. While the flows have leveled off, the water is still cold and will take some warmer weather to get it back up to where it was before the cold front. Like we’ve said in many spring fishing reports for the Blackfoot, if you want less people, this is the place to be, but you’ll sacrifice fishing and dry fly fishing for solitary. The nymphing and streamer fishing should continue to fish well for those who wish to head up that way. Focus your time on slow inside seems with deep nymph rigs and slowly retrieved streamers.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Blackfoot Streamflow

Clark Fork River

The Clark Fork river like the rest of the rivers in the area was effected by the change in weather over the last few days. The water levels went up and has started to drop over the last couple days. The river has turned a bit darker in color which will slow things down for a few days but we expect the Clark Fork to be fishing good again soon. Keep March Browns, BWO’s and Skwalas handy. We’ll keep you posted on conditions.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Clark Fork Streamflow

Rock Creek

Rock Creek has been solid even through the bump in water flows and cooler temps. They nymphing and streamer game has been the way to go over the last few days with the rising water. We are seeing Skwala’s, March Browns and BWO’s hatching and the dry fly fishing should pick back up this week with the warmer weather and leveling flows.

Focus on nymphs and streamers in the morning and go to the dries in the afternoon. The fish are still in their cold weather holding water, so hit the inside seems and slower walking speed water runs.


Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Rock Creek Streamflow

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.

Best Skwala Patterns
Best March Brown Patterns
Top BWO Patterns
Best Nemoura Patterns
Capnia Overview
13 Tips For Fly Fishing Streamers
Missoula Fly Fishing Report
Bitterroot River

Missoula Fishing Report 4/3

by MAngler

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 fly fishing has been hot over the last week, the skwala dry has been the name of the game, March browns and BWOs have been good in the cloudy weather. Anglers are having success with nymphs and streamers early morning, and then switching to the Skwala dry later in the morning and throughout the day. The river flow is on an upward trend, and with rain forecasted, we might see the bump in flows continue depending on how much moisture we receive over the next few days

Our favorite patterns are as follows:
Skwala – Gray/Olive Plan B, Water Walker, Rogue, Mill Creek and the True Skwala.
March Browns – Parachute Pheasant Tail, Brindlechute and the Carnage March Brown.
BWO – Tiltwing, Thorax, Parachute Hare’s Ear Olive and Film Critic.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips for each hatch

Bitterroot Streamflow

Blackfoot River

Fishing on the Blackfoot river is decent, particularly with streamers and nymphs, while the dry fly fishing is spotty at best. Effective strategies include fishing deep nymph rigs on inside seams and slowly retrieved streamers in deeper runs.

While the Blackfoot river may not be the best option for anglers at this point, the traffic is low and this is a great time of year to test out your streamer skills with some big fish being caught up here over the last few weeks.

Deep nymph rigs with stoneflies and worms are pretty hard to beat on the Blackfoot river now. For streamers, our favorites are the Double Fuego, Sparkle Minnow, Mongrel Meat and the Gonga.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Blackfoot Streamflow

Clark Fork River

The Clark Fork river mirrors the Bitterroot in terms of hatches. The skwala’s have been out in the sun, while the BWO’s and March Brown dries have been good in the clouds.

Like the Bitterroot, the Clark Fork’s flows are creeping up as of this morning. The forecast is calling for a lot of moisture over the next 24 hours.

Our favorite patterns for the Skwala has been the Mill Creek Skwala, Gray/Olive Plan B and the True Skwala. The Parachute Pheasant Tail and Carnage March Brown has been our most effective March Brown Patterns. For BWO’s, try the Film Critit, Split Flag and the Thorax.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Clark Fork Streamflow

Rock Creek

Rock Creek is in excellent fishing conditions. The Skwala adults have started to show up along with BWO’s and March Browns. The dry fly fishing in the morning has been a little slow, but by midday the dries have been effective. Nymphing and streamer fishing has been good in the morning while you wait for the dries to come into play.

Like the rest of the rivers, Rock creek is currently seeing a rising trend in water flows as of this morning and might continue its rise if the weather forecast holds true. Rock creek is one stream around missoula that still fishes decent in rising water.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for additional fly patterns and tips!

Rock Creek Streamflow

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.

Best Skwala Patterns
Best March Brown Patterns
Top BWO Patterns
Best Nemoura Patterns
Capnia Overview
13 Tips For Fly Fishing Streamers
Bitterroot River

Western Montana Fly Fishing 2022 Forecast

by MAngler

We’re having a typical Montana Spring. We had snow in late April, and the weather hasn’t gone above 70 since October! We’re getting a bit of rain each day, which is keeping the ground moist and the grass green. While some don’t enjoy this weather now, we’re all going to love it in about 6 weeks and throughout the summer. So far the Montana fly fishing 2022 prediction is looking pretty dang good.

Our snow pack is between 150 and 215% throughout the area, and if this rain continues, we’re going to have an epic summer. Hate to pull a jinx, but it’s looking a whole lot better than last summer, when we had some serious drought throughout western Montana. But right now, we’re poised to have water throughout the summer. The weather looks mild for the next few weeks which always helps extending the runoff further into the summer and should produce some good june fly fishing as well. As long as we don’t see those early record breaking temperature like we saw last June, we should have some much happier fish for the summer of 2022.

We can’t wait. The droughts that occasionally show in Western Montana can be a real issue for fishing. Low flows and high water temps are a serious stresser on the trout. When water levels stay up through the summer, keeping water temps lower, the fish stay healthy. This snowpack, and some typical June rain will keep water levels where they should be through the summer.

The Missoulian Angler is prepping for a big summer of fishing. Our cold spring fishing has shown us some very healthy, fat fish with no noticeable population decline. We came through last years’ low water relatively unscathed. All the cards are in place, it looks like the stars are aligned. With a little help from June rain, this summer is looking to be a lot deeper than last summer. Lazy waders might be a bit sad, as will those who like their fish stacked like cordwood. But for those who want a healthy river, stress free trout and cold water around their feet, it looks like the summer of 2022 Montana fly fishing is going to be a whole lot better than last year.

Current Western Montana snow water equivalent percent map – 6/1/2022
A great start to Western Montana fly fishing 2022 season!!!