Missoula Fly Fishing
Fly Fishing Hot Topics

Smart Wet Wading

by MAngler

When the weather gets hot, a lot of anglers ditch the waders in favor of comfort. It doesn’t matter how breathable waders are, in 90 degree weather, any extra layer adds a lot of warmth. When the waders come off for comfort, you’ll need to have the proper equipment for a full days fishing when wet wading

Ask any Sergeant about the most important piece of equipment they own, and they’ll tell you about footwear. When your feet are sore or blistered, the rest of the day gets that much longer. Being smart about your footwear when wet wading keeps your feet, and therefore your fishing, in shape.

Wet Wading Footwear

The easiest solution for wet waders is to use neoprene booties. Designed to mimic the neoprene sock found on breathable waders, the neoprene booties allow an angler to use their wading boots. Most anglers are comfortable with wading boots, and the thick neoprene sock allows an angler to wear the footwear they already own.

There are a couple of disadvantages to neoprene socks. When worn in a boat, neoprene socks get really hot. Additionally, neoprene socks allow water to enter. When your feet aren’t immersed in the river, the water trapped in the neoprene sock gets very warm. It’s like a petri dish around your feet, and you run the risk of a serious case of athlete’s foot. When you use a neoprene sock, it works better in a wet wading situation, not as much in a boat.

Many of the best guides in Missoula Montana wear sandals when they’re rowing. Keen and Chacos tend to be the favored footwear in a boat. So much cooler, and so much more comfortable.

When you wear sandals, MAKE SURE you put sunscreen on your feet! Crafty anglers apply waterproof sunscreen before putting on the sandals. Rub the sunscreen between your toes, and make sure you get complete coverage. Sunburn on your feet is sneaky. Because you’re getting in and out of the water, your feet feel cool. But the sun is baking them, and like Sarge said, keep your feet in good shape. Sunscreen is critical for comfortable sandal wear for wet wading.

Sandals have other issues as well when wet wading fly fishing. In low gradient rivers, like the Clark Fork and Bitterroot river near Missoula, sandals are easily worn for wet wading. In higher gradient rivers, like Rock Creek and the Blackfoot, sandals can be a bit more problematic. High gradient rivers have very little scree and cobble- most of the rocks lining the bottom are bowling ball sized or larger. Runoff moves the smaller strata, leaving the big rocks.

Most wet wading is controlled, but not all! It only takes once- having your foot slip off the top of a rock, and wedging your sandaled foot between two stones. Wading boots have a rigid toe box, ankle support and padding. When you wedge between rocks wearing sandals, you run a good chance of scraping your foot or jamming a toe. Wedge a wading boot, and the problems are minimized.

Low gradient rivers have their own issues. The cobble and scree that provides easier wading also suspends and enter into the sandal. Sandals without a toe cap are easy to sluice out when you get pebbles between your foot and the sandal. Sandals with a toe cap provide additional protection when wading, but at least once a day you’re going to end up sitting down and rinsing the gravel out. Wearing socks helps a bit with that, but nothing stops scree from getting into a wet wading sandal and rubbing against your feet. Socks also help block the sun and minimize sunburn.

Please, no mid calf black socks with sandals.

Once you feel the freedom of wet wading, it starts to become a habit, and you try to extend the wet wading season. As you do this, remember the first thing you learned as a young adult- warm beer is cheaper than cold beer, and the fastest way to get your beer cold is put it in ice water. When you’re wet wading in colder weather or colder water, the river is pulling the heat out of your body. It’s easy to get a lot colder than you think you are.

Surprisingly, there are advantages. Most of the time, if you find yourself wading waist deep, you’re standing where the fish were before you got there. Cold weather/water wet wading keeps you shallower and spooking fewer fish.

Plan Ahead

But you need to plan ahead. If the day calls for one fleece layer, wear two if you’re wet wading. You need to keep your core warm, and the additional layer(s) will pay dividends over the course of the day.

Make sure to get out of the water once in a while, even if the fishing is good. Depending on how cold the weather is, once you get cold, it’s tough to get warm again. It’s a lot easier to stay warm than get warm again.

Take this from a life long wet wader- after the fishing day is done, moisturize your feet and lower legs. No, we’re not going to recommend a specific lotion- just get one and rub it on. Constant immersion in water drains the skin of moisture, so you need to replenish it.

A down side to wet wading is the wear and tear on your lower body. When you’re wearing waders, you don’t really care about walking through mild brambles and bracken along the river. About 5 hours into a wet wading day, those thorns and prickers really start to hurt. Take a page from New Zealand guides. They wet wade, but wear a pair of running tights under their shorts. The skin tight fabric doesn’t impede water flow like quick dry pants or waders, so there’s less pressure on your legs. It also protects your legs from most of the thorns and plant life along the edge of the stream.

A big upside to wet wading is you can never go in above your waders. When crossing a river, or wading deep, you’re always worried about flooding your waders with water and being damp for the rest of the day. Hey, you’re already wet, so it makes no difference. You never have to feel the trickle of a new leak in your waders, as the water seeps down the back of your leg.

It pays to wear quick drying clothing, including your underwear. Yes, we’re talking about underwear- no snickering. Cotton may be comfortable when dry, but once it’s wet, it get clammy, uncomfortable, binding and can be a bit rashy. If you plan to seriously wet wade, spring for a pair of quick dry undies, it will make the day a lot more comfortable.

Wet wading is a truly freeing experience on the water. So much more comfortable in hot weather, and if you plan correctly, you can wet wade in conditions that might not be perfect. Getting the proper footwear and clothing is imperative for a comfortable experience. Grab your fanny or sling pack and hit the water, you’ll be amazed at how much cooler, comfortable and free you feel on the water.

Complete Guide To Beginner Fly Fishing

Mahogany Nymph
Fly Fishing Hot Topics

Low Water Nymphing

by MAngler

In the low, clear water of summer, many anglers really focus on the surface action. Less water means less current, making a rise much more energy efficient. The fish are in clearly defined areas, and easy to prospect for. Clear water makes the dry fly appealing, and many anglers ply the surface all day, hoping for the slash to a hopper, spying the subtle sip of an ant or the plop of a beetle. Waning PMD’s, Tan Caddis and PED’s can keep your focus on top, but you’re missing out on where feeding fish are most of the time! Trout don’t like the sun- it hurts their eyes and makes them easy targets for predators. They want the bottom when the water is clear.

You see a single rise, and the adrenaline rushes. Rising fish! You stare at the rings, and wait for another rise, but it’s not happening. Missoula’s best fly fishing guides call this one and done. Whatever that fish came to the surface for, it seems to be a one off. No reason to stay and wait for another rise- it’s going to take a while to bring that fish back to the surface.

But you’ve learned something. There’s a hungry trout in that spot. An old phrase comes to mind, fish where the fish are! That fish has alerted you to its presence, and willingness to feed. Set yourself up with a nymph, and go after that hungry fish. The hard part is done. You know where it is, and know it’s feeding. Take advantage of what the trout tells you.

Low water nymphing can be as easy as rigging up a dry/dropper rig. Pick a high floating fly and tie it on the end of your leader. Check the depth of the holding water for your chosen fish, and use 1.5 times the depth as your dropper length. If you think the water is 2 feet deep, make sure your dropper is attached to three feet of leader. We strongly recommend fluorocarbon tippet for multiple reasons. It’s much denser than standard tippet, so it sinks faster. It’s as close to invisible underwater as you can get, and it’s extremely abrasion resistant. That’s important because banging the bottom with light tippet weakens its strength. We also recommend going with the lightest indicator you’re comfortable with. Additionally, if you’ve been fishing dries on a 12 foot leader, cut your leader back a bit to control your rig. Accuracy is critical, and if you’ve built a 16 foot leader with two flies on it, it can get pretty unwieldy.

There’s a huge difference in dry/dropper fishing, depending if you’re in a boat or wading. When floating, you’re less worried about landing the fly in the water, and more worried about the floatation of the dry. With good mending, you may get a 100 yard drift from a boat, and your dry fly needs to have sufficient buoyancy to handle repeated mends. The Morrish Hopper, Plan B or Chubby Chernobyl provide exceptional floatation, recovering from the mend and resurfacing to maintain your drift.

There are two distinct ways to low water nymph for the wade fisherman. The first is to go dry/dropper, or run an indicator and two nymphs. Using a high floating fly/indicator, the angler casts to likely water, mending as needed. The indicator returns to the surface when mended, keeping the nymph at the depth set by the angler. Fish the likely spots, just as if you were in a boat, with vigorous mends, using the floatation in your fly or indicator to bring it back to the surface after mending.

This may not be the approach to use when targeting a specific fish, like our friend that went one and done 4 paragraphs ago. Often, the larger dry or indicator will create quite a disturbance when it lands on the water, alerting the fish to your presence. For targeted nymphing, use a very light indicator, like New Zealand Wool or Palsa indicators, or a fly like the Royal Wulff. The reasoning goes this way. A wading angler is lucky to get a 3 second drift. Try it sometime. Cast your dry out and count how long it floats before dragging. You’re going to find that 3 seconds is long! Aerial mends, like the reach cast or steeple cast, are critical for the wading angler’s arsenal, extending your drift to the 3 second mark!  

You’re using the Wulff as an indicator, not really as a fly. The water is low and clear. The targeted nymph fisherman may tie a size 14 Tungsten Bead Head Jig to a size 12 dry. No, it’s not going to float your nymph very well! But that’s not the point. Your fly is an indicator, and in clear water, it’s visible even if it sinks. React to any movement in your point fly, whether floating or drowned, just as if it was on the surface. The light touch won’t spook your fish, and as long as you can see your “dry” in the water column, it’s still your indicator. Stealth is the name of the game in low water. A light indicator fly might not control depth like an Airlock, but still tells you when your nymph has been eaten.

Back in the dawn of fly fishing, like pre 1970’s!, nymph fishermen fished without indicators. I know!!! It seems crazy in this day and age, but nymph fishers didn’t use an indicator. They watched for subtle movements in their leader or line tip to alert them to the “quick brown wink underwater.” Believe me, they would have used them if they could have, but they weren’t available. The first indicators were made of fluorescent orange fly line peeled from the core, and they revolutionized nymphing. They were a pain in the tuckus to use, but they made all the difference.

Yesterdays nympher would quickly recognize Euronymphing today. The old timers “high stick”, now we euro nymph. Using a long rod often extended way above shoulder height, euro nymphers keep as much line off the water as possible, controlling depth and drift with the tip of the rod. They work the best water, and after a few careful drifts, can have the fly dancing along the bottom, adjusting for structure, current speed and depth. It’s amazing to watch a good euro nympher at work- they will take fish all day long, because they’re where the fish are at all times. Euro nymphers use a variation of the lightweight indicator, and will use it on the surface or submerged if necessary to get the proper drift.

Which brings us to THE MOST DIFFICULT Missoula trout fishing you can find- sight nymphing. Lets start at the beginning. You need to be on your game enough to spot a feeding fish underwater. No gimmes here, like concentric rings of a rise. You need to spot the fish before you spook it. Then ascertain how deep the fish is, and find the best position for your presentation. You need to know exactly how fast your nymph sinks, how fast the current is moving, and then gage your cast to get the nymph to the proper depth, at the proper time in the correct feeding lane. With no drag. After that, it’s a piece of cake . . . unless the trout is focused on a specific nymph, and then you have to figure that out as well. Many sight nymphers wil pre-scout an area for feeding fish, just as a hatch matcher will find where the fish are rising. It takes some of the guesswork out of the process.

Sight nymphing makes dry fly fishing look like spinfishing. It’s a 3-D presentation to fish in clear water, with all that entails. On the Henry’s Fork, anglers often work in pairs, one on a bluff watching the trout while the other is in the water casting. The spotter relays if the drift was good, if the fish moved and any other pertinent data. We’ve not seen that done in Missoula, but there are places on the Clark Fork River, Blackfoot River and the lower Bitterroot River where that approach would work. If you’re hanging around the shop, and someone says they’ve taken some fish while sight nymphing, it will pay to eavesdrop on their conversation. You’re probably going to learn something! Do it with stealth though, just like nymph fishing in the low, clear water of summer and fall!

Montana Stonefly Hatch
Flies and Fly Tying

Best Flies For July In Montana

by MAngler

For Missoula, and most of Montana, July fly fishing comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. It starts like a house afire, and it often ends up just being hot! Montana rivers start the month high, cold and green, and end it low and clear. For the wading angler, this can be a blessing, for the floating angler, not as much. For those who float or row, early July can be the trickiest time of the year. As the water drops, the rivers teeth start to stick up and come into play. But the water isn’t actually low, it’s just lower.  Still a lot of push in the river, and the snags, rocks and sweepers are now a lot closer to the surface, and a lot more dangerous. Pay attention when rowing in early July! But we digress. . . . . . .

Stoneflies

If you want, July can start BIG! Not as big and bright as June, as the Salmon Flies are starting to wane, but they’re still around, coming back to the water to lay their eggs. The Rogue Salmon Fly or the Morning Wood Special in a size 6-8 can work very effectively, as the adult salmon flies are shrinking as they return to lay eggs. They get smaller and darker as the hatch progresses, and your flies should reflect that. However . . . .

Rogue Salmon Fly

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Morning Wood Salmon Fly

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The best fly fishing guides in Missoula will tell you the moment the Golden Stones appear in numbers, it’s time to drop the big guy and go for the gold. The goldens are a more consistent hatch along the river, and the fish will rise more readily to the golden. Maybe they taste better? We don’t know that, but we do know they’re usually more productive as we head into July. If you’re not ready to abandon the salmon fly altogether, we can suggest a few “Tweener” flies. A tweener is a fly that does double duty- could be a golden, could be a salmon fly. A great example of this is the El Camino Grillo Golden in the larger sizes. Fits the bill for a big golden or small salmon fly.  A long time stalwart in Missoula is the PK Golden, and don’t sleep on the Plan B either. While it may sound like a second tier fly, the Plan B is a go-to for Missoula fly fishing guides.

El Camino Golden

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Plan B – Golden

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Streamers

Lets go back to big for just a second. At the beginning of July, when the rivers are full and maybe still a bit off color, a streamer will often move the biggest fish in the river. The lack of clarity in the water helps them feel safe, and the higher water means the fish are hugging the banks looking for an easy meal they don’t need to move far for. A streamer worked along the shoreline doesn’t give the trout a lot of time to make up its mind, and the vicious hit of a big trout bent on making the most of what the river rips by can about knock the rod out of your hands! Agreed, the surface activity can be so good that you don’t think past the meniscus, but the trout are feeding at all levels of the river. If you’re on the water early and there’s no movement on top, it’s a great time to mobilize big fish with big flies.

Sculpzilla

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Sparkle Minnow

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Mayflies

The Pale Morning Duns and the Pale Evening Duns are also out in big numbers in the month of July. Look for the PMD’s to come off anywhere from 9:00 am  to 1:00 pm depending on weather. Soft water and longer glides can offer some of the most exciting fishing in Montana and locally, with blanket hatches of PMD’s coming off steadily for 1-2 hours. Have a good selection of bugs, as the fish can get a bit snotty. The Tilt Wing PMD and the Last Chance Cripple cover a lot of the stages of the adult life cycle, and are go-to flies when the hatch is on. The Parachute PMD is easier to see, and is also very effective.

The Pale Evening Duns can be a bit trickier to find. They’re extremely weather dependent. If the day has hit 95 degrees (not uncommon in mid-July- bring your sunscreen!) the PED’s might not come off till about 15 minutes before dark. Be ready, so you’re not trying to tie your fly on in twilight! The same bugs that work for the PMD’s will work for the PED’s as well. If the day was cool or cloudy, they may start to appear as early as 7:30. Make sure you’re ready on the water when they come off, because they are going to. It just depends on the day.

The Rusty Spinner deserves a paragraph all its own. Both the PMD’s and the PED’s will morph into Rusty Spinners, so there are a lot of them on the water. The spinner is a spent mayfly that has returned to the water to die. Their wings are flat to the surface, and they are very difficult to see if you’re not looking for them. They will  come off at dusk or dawn, or both. If you’re an early riser, you might find some early risers! If you’re out late, and the trout have spurned your classic PED patterns, switch over to a Hi-Viz Rusty Spinner. You will be astounded at how popular that darn near invisible (to us) fly is to the trout.

Tilt Wing PMD

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Hi-Viz Rusty Spinner

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Caddis

The reason you might not be ready for the PED’s is the Tan Caddis. When they are on, they are ON! They will also come off around dusk on the Clark Fork River, Rock Creek, the Bitterroot River, the Big Blackfoot River and all across Montana. The Tan Caddis may be the most popular fly in the entire state.  If you run across a blanket hatch, and there are few fish rising, move directly to the Deep Caddis Pupa Tan or Translucent Pupa Tan. Those insects on the surface didn’t appear from nowhere, and if the fish aren’t feeding on the surface, they’re feeding underneath! If you find them rising in faster water, nothing works better than a Tan Elk Hair Caddis. Find them in some slower water, and the X-Caddis Tan is often the answer. The Tan Caddis is also a great searching fly throughout the day, and will move fish at the strangest times in the strangest places!

Elk Hair Caddis

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X-Caddis

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Terrestrials

These hatches are huge as the month of July starts, but wane as the month goes on, until what was once a blizzard is now a mere localized squall. As the water drops and clears, and the aquatic food sources begin to dry up, the fish need to widen their gaze, and start looking for alternative meals. The big hope is the Spruce Moth. They can be huge in the last weeks of July, depending upon the weather.  You can hear the landowners curse as the tops of their trees are destroyed, but to the trout, they can be a huge bridge between the cornucopia of early July and the tricos of August. Ron Beck’s MAngler Moth is every guide’s favorite fly, but don’t lose sight of the Spruce Almighty, or even a big tan caddis when the Spruce Moths are on the water.

This is also the time that your Ants and beetles begin to shine. The hot days get those bugs moving around, and every time the wind blows, more enter the river systems. We enjoy the Foam Beetle, as it floats well, and is almost easily seen. The Ant-Acid has become very popular in the last couple of years, as has the ????. It’s a bit early to look to the hopper, unless July has been brutally hot, but the hopper days are coming, rest assured. Patience is required when fishing terrestrials, as the fish aren’t always looking up when we think they should be . . . . .

Nymphs

So go to the nymph!! Pick a good, basic nymph in a size 14-16 and fish the crap out of it. Jig nymphs sink faster- never the wrong choice. The fish are missing their regular meals, and will move a good distance to find some food. If you come across a good deep hole, the Pats Rubberlegs is still a top producer, especislly on the Clark Fork River. Stoneflies nymphs in Missoula have a 2-3 year lifespan, so the Pat’s is always a good bet in the deeper parts of the river.  A Double Bead Stone may be a bit much, but you’re sure going to get down to the bottom of the river with that fly in late July!

Yellow Hot Spot Jig

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Pats Rubberlegs

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Mousing

There’s another terrestrial that deserves special mention in July, and that’s the mouse. Yes, the mouse. Late in the month, when the rivers have calmed down, and the heat of the day has driven the big fish deep into the shade, the mouse can be magic. It takes a little intestinal fortitude to fish rodentia, as the best mouse fishing is found after dark. We find its best to do your mousing in water you’re familiar with- a little prescouting doesn’t hurt either. A flashlight or headlamp is also highly recommended. The big Browns across Montana come out to feed after dark, and its not what you think it is. Darkness hides them from predators, and they will move into shallow water to feed. Work the top of a pool, right where the riffle comes in, and the tail out, where the water shallows back up again. At night, the big fish are in skinny water, and that’s where you need to be. If the mouse isn’t producing, switch to a streamer. Same place, just sub-surface. The takes can be brutally hard. But truthfully, we’re looking for the sippers, the trout that’s so big it takes your mouse with hardly a sign. That’s why you’re on the water after midnight, for the fish that hasn’t seen the sun for 3 years!

Final Thoughts

In like a lion, out like a lamb. The wading is tough in the beginning, awesome at the end. Reverse that for floating. You start the month with 2X tippet, and can find yourself with 4’ of 5X on July 31st. That’s what July is in Missoula and across Montana, the month with the biggest change. Be ready to match the hatches, be ready to make your own with some terrestrials, or get down to where the fish are when the hatches wane and the sun comes out. You get to see it all in July.

Missoula Montana Guided Fly Fishing Trip

Come enjoy a day on the river with Missoula’s best fly fishing guides. We float the Bitterroot River, Blackfoot River and the Clark Fork River. All gear, lunch and transportation provided.

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Montana Guided Fly Fishing Float Trip