Use The Bump Time To Prepare For Montana Spring Fishing

Blake Hasquet enjoying some Montana spring fly fishing.

One week the fishing will be incredible with bugs, stable flows and beautiful weather and the next week you’re dealing with rising water, snow/rain and frozen guides. Like the saying goes “if you don’t like the weather in Montana, wait 10 minues” the same goes for Montana spring fly fishing.

We are dealing with this issue right now. Just when things started warming up and the rivers started to fish really well, we get hammered by rain after a brief warm up and the the rivers start to bump in flows. The last few weeks have been amazing fishing, big fish on big dries all day long. The good news is the flows will level off again and the fishing should continue to be productive after these daily bumps in flow. The bad news is that this weekend isn’t looking great for fly fishing Missoula rivers with rising flows, wind and cold nights.

We are hoping by next week the Bitterroot river and Blackfoot river should level off and begin to clear unless the weather man changes his/her thoughts. Rock creek is also seeing a bump but fishing is typically less effected on this stream then the rest of the Missoula rivers when flows bump due to spring conditions. The Clark Fork river is always a bit behind the other rivers to clear up and hopefully it comes back into shape by the end of next week because it was fishing really well on top for the last week or so.

Your best options for fishing right now are the Bitterroot and Rock Creek if you do plan to go fishing this week. To be honest, it might be a better weekend to tie, organize fly boxes, study entomology and check out our online menu and give us a call or email to put in an order for needed supplies for better fishing next week. Skwala, March Brown, Neumora and BWO are the primary insects that will be hatching for the rest of April, so focus on tying these or loading your fly box for some of the best Montana spring fishing of the year coming,

Many of us have a lot of extra time on our hands lately and fishing is a great way to pass the time. The inconsistency of spring fly fishing in Montana is something we live with every year and those who prepare now will maximize their fishing time when rivers stabilize. The last thing that you want to happen is getting out on the river and realize that you’re out of 3x tippet or the right pattern and fish are feeding in front of you. We are more then happy to put together a variety of flies that will work this time of year for you if you would like. A dozen professionally picked flies will go a long ways for your Missoula fly fishing adventure. Our doors may be shut but we are still open to call in or email orders and are here to help like we always have. Don’t hesitate to reach out for an order or just some needed advice. We miss seeing everyone come into our Missoula fly shop and at the very least, we would still love to hear your voices.

Get out and go fish, enjoy the time to yourself or family and enjoy Montana spring fly fishing.