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Western Montana Fishing Report
End of 2009 season:

It's that time again. The end to another season. The last few weeks saw about as wild a fall... And as short... As I can remember. Went from 90's to 30's in a week. About the only good part of that was there were plenty of
mahoganies and blue wings some days to say there was a hatch. Last few days, snow squalls were the norm, and winds in the twenty to thirty category were regular occurrences. Despite the curves thrown at us, we had wonderful times on the river, and most days managed to catch at least a few nice trout.

Around here we've already put a couple of the boats away for the winter, and are merely hoping to get out a time or two yet before hunting dominates my agenda. Though we lacked any real color changes this year, good company more than made up for the lack of fall. Until next year, have a safe and healthy winter, try to make it out for skwala this spring, and good hunting. Talk to you in a few months.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
Sept. 21 thru 28, 2009

Sorry about the delay in getting this out. I've been waiting for the chance to give you some good news. Finally, after a month of nothing but bright sunny days, we've finally arrived at fall. It actually looks like we're
going to have a week or two of cloudy, cool days. Thank you... Whoever might be responsible.

Basically, the last week produced good to excellent fishing on tric's. If the wind didn't blow them off, you could almost set your watch on a spinner fall from 10:30 till around 3:00. While it lasted you were able to watch
large mouths working intermittently between lazy single takes to that vacuuming action they like to do when they seem to suck up everything for several seconds.

If you're coming this week, bring more polar fleece than sunscreen.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
Sept. 14 thru Sept. 21, 2009

Not really sure what to call last week. Beautiful, hot, crazy? All these terms come to mind. Overall, if you like sunny, hot, and bright weather, western Montana was definitely the place for you. With days that tipped the
scales at over 90... And all over 80... It sure did not feel like fall in Montana. With the exception of good trico hatches, the blue winged olives, mahoganies and fall drakes all kind of disappeared under these summer like
conditions.

The one good part of last week was the trico hatch. If you got on the water... In certain stretches... Early, you could fish bwo's for an hour or two, then switch over to tric's as the morning swung toward mid-day. A good
day could find you fishing tric's right up till around 2 or 3 with good success. Once tric's were finished however it was pretty much searching the rest of the day with limited success.

Another week of bright sun does not bode well. The only saving grace is we are suppose to cool down a bit... Which might get some of these other mayflies in the air. We'll just have to wait and see.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
Sept. 7 thru Sept. 14, 2009

Either we've been 'snake bit', or this unseasonably beautiful weather has made fishing tougher than normal this fall... At least to this point. Though we have been managing to find some nice fish, in that 18 to 20 inch class,
most days have definitely been tougher than normal.

We do have most the bugs out... trico's, mahoganies and fall drakes as well as a few October caddis... But these bright sunny days have kept hatches to a minimum. Our best action comes early to mid-day on blue wings and trico's and decent in the later hours on blue wings. The rest of the day is spent throwing hoppers or large mayflies and hoping a couple nice fish happen to
turn for a meal.

With another week of bright warm weather forecast, about the best we can hope for is cool evenings and a few more of those mayflies popping during the mid day.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 31 thru Sept. 7, 2009

Though not the best week of fishing we've ever experienced here in Western Montana, it wasn't bad. Trico's were out, a few mahogany's and a few fall drakes. Though not enough bugs throughout the day to keep fish actively
feeding in those pods we like... If the wind didn't blow the tric's off the water... There were still heads to be found sipping those dainty spinners on the water. During those non feeding hours you could still turn enough heads with either a mayfly or hopper to make things entertaining.

The outlook for this week is warming again... Towards the mid to low 80's... But it looks like our evenings might start getting cooler. This morning's temp in Missoula was 38 which bears well for those mayflies coming off. If
we can get a few more larger mayflies mixed in those early and late hours of the day, it could be sight fishing for several hours.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 24 thru 31, 2009

Like a child awaiting Christmas morning, those of us that fish with a fly have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the trico's. And, just like those children we used to be, whose anticipation was only exceeded by our joy upon the first glimpse of the presents under the tree, our older forms pause and a smile cracks our weather-beaten features as we spy the first cloud of pixies hovering above a current line. Then, as these dainty mayflies eventually fall to the water and the first head of a rainbow emerges from the water to feed on their spent forms, the smile becomes more pronounced as we ponder the probability of actually landing one of these huge trout on our thread like tippet.

Yes, for those of you wondering what the hell I'm talking about, the trico's have finally made an appearance. With their arrival, and our water levels at flows we haven't experienced for several years, the fall is shaping up to be
something special this year. It's finally time to put away those spools of heavy tippets and switch over to the finer stuff. It's time to find out if it is possible to land a twenty inch fish on a sized twenty two dry fly.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 17 thru 24, 2009

Well, we're still waiting for those trico's. Though I was only out a couple days last week, I saw nary a sign of trico's bouncing on the air currents. Like I told the folks this week, it might be today, it may be tomorrow, or
the next day, but they are going to show up any day. The only question now is what day.

On another front, water levels and temps appear like they are going to get us thru the season. I doubt whether there will be any early closures this summer at all. As a matter of fact, right now, our yearly total for precipitation is right at normal (something I can not remember happening this late in the season for many years).

There is still pretty good hopper action, and there are spinners and caddis late in the evening and decent early morning action, but things will really start happening around here once the trico's get hatching on a regular
basis.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 11 thru 18, 2009

Let's see. How do you spell tough? I spell it fishing this last week. Tough is definitely the best word I can think of to describe the action this week. Though we did manage to turn a few nice fish each day, they were definitely
few and far between.

One day you'd have a decent trico hatch on the lower river. The next you'd have little to none. Upper river fished ok for small fish, but anything of substance managed to hide better than normal. The only real bright spot was
the Blackfoot fished pretty good a couple of days and the Clark Fork is showing signs of those fall days.

Biggest thing we're waiting for right now is those tric's to show up on a regular basis. Once they do it should be good to excellent again. Until they do however, expect plenty of small guys to stop by and say hello and those
larger fish to pass up most offerings.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
Aug. 3 thru 10, 09

 

Cool weather... And a lot of rain... Were the best news we could have had this week. Nearly 2 inches across the area gave a spike to our flows, and also slowed down that rising water temperature. With more cool weather (70
degree range) forecast for this week, the odds are we should not have any early fishing restrictions on our rivers this year. Of course, we still have to remember it's only August, and we could still have some formidable heat
in front of us... Let's hope not.

Fishing is really turning toward terrestrials though there are caddis in the evenings as well as pmd's and a few trico's during the mid day hours. These are the days we often refer to as the 'dog days' when fishing during the mid day seems almost foreign to us. Seems like we'd be better served sometimes to park the boat and spend an hour or two swimming.

Anyway, there are still a lot of smaller fish coming up, and enough of the larger fish to make it interesting. With trico's beginning to make an appearance, look for fishing to pick up in the next week or so.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 27 thru Aug. 3, 2009

 

As much as it pains me to say such, it was a tough week here in Western Montana. The skies were bright blue and temps were up most the week (high to mid 90's) and bug action was sparse at best on the main rivers. The one bright spot was I spent a few days up in the tributaries to the head waters and had both great fishing as well as comfortable days wading in that slightly cooler water.

The biggest problem right now is the best fishing is probably just before dark. This is a problem because the warm days also make the water warmest just before dark... When fish have the greatest trouble recovering from a
battle with a fly! Needless to say, we're not doing a lot of main stem fishing right now.

If you are fishing the main stem early in the day, look for those spinners falling early in the morning. They are those fairy dust things bouncing up and down in the air a few feet above the water. Generally, an Adams or Haze
will get these early morning fish to at least look at your offering (if they won't take, then it's time to experiment).

The good news is the weather forecast is for our days to cool back down. They are actually calling for mid to upper 70's by mid-week; with even a chance of rain on Thursday. Call me stupid, but that sounds pretty good to
me. Still no sight of Trico''s, but probably a week or two out.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 20 thru 27, 2009

Despite water temperatures remaining warm, fishing was still good here in Western Montana. Plenty of golden stones and mayflies kept fish looking up most the week. We are starting to see a lot of the smaller fish feeding...
Especially mid-day... So don't be surprised if you come back on that set and find something in the 6 to 8 inch class on the end of your line. But, there are still enough of the bigger guys looking up to make it an enjoyable day. I even hooked up a nice 20 inch rainbow this week.

As water levels continue to drop and temps rise, remember fish stress easily. Get those fish in as quickly as you can, try not to waste a lot of time taking that hook out (if it's deep just cut it off), and refrain from that photo op. unless you do it in the net. Be careful on the water and enjoy your visit to Montana.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 13 thru 20, 2009

I must take complete blame. It was not my web master, Sandy, who is responsible for the delay in this report. It is me. I was too busy fishing to bother writing last weeks report. Sorry about that.

Anyway, better late than never. It was great fishing most all week. Goldens and mayflies made up the majority of the fishes diet, and most days the fish did not seem to differentiate between a natural and artificial. Good for us.

River conditions remain good with plenty of water in most streams. The only sour note is water temps are beginning to warm up. By early afternoon they are approaching dangerous levels and we are already starting to see some fish kill in the water.

Please, if you are going to push it later in the day, go heavier on that tippet, get those fish fast, and refrain from photo ops whenever possible. Remember, that image in your mind of that gargantuan rainbow turning on your
fly, then rising out of the water, trying desperately to un-pin itself from the irritant in it's mouth, then, after a few moments of struggling amounst the rocks before finally succumbing to it's fate and allowing you to pull it
sideways on the current to it's momentary resting place in your net... Only to swim off again upon a painless release... Is burned into your consciousness forever. You probably don't really need a picture every time.

With warm weather predicted until the end of this week, I don't expect water temps to decline until probably early next week. If you want to take a break from that river fishing for a few hours, try one of our small mountain
streams. They are a lot of fun on a 3 wt. (small enough to enjoy the little guys but almost enough backbone to turn a 17 incher if you're lucky enough to tag into one).

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 5 thru July 12, 2009

Salmon flies are all but done. I have to admit, it was fun while it lasted. I once had a client who, when asked why he fished alone even though it cost him more, replied, 'I don't know how many more salmon fly, green drake, or
golden stone hatches I will live to see, and I want to enjoy them.' The older I get, the more relevant those words seem to me.

Fortunately, though the salmon flies and giant goldens are finished for another year, the smaller goldens seem intent upon offering themselves up for feasting to large and small trout alike. All our rivers are alive with
activity and cooler summer temperatures... At least to date... Make fishing our rivers even more wonderful than normal.

While small goldens dominate the hatches right now, mayfly patterns in brown and purple seem to produce on the upper stretches more consistently than golden patterns. For best fishing, start your day with the mayflies, mid-day switch to a small golden pattern, and end the day with mayflies again.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 29 thru July 6, 2009

It was another excellent week of fishing here in Western Montana. Salmon flies are still in the upper reaches of the Bitterroot Forks as well as the Blackfoot river. Golden stones are showing up all along the Root as well as
both our other rivers, and PMD's and Caddis fill in any slow moments.

With this week forecast weather in the mid to upper 70's fishermen should get a respite from the heat... And hopefully another excellent week of fishing.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 23 thru 30, 2009

Sorry about the delay on this report. Just too busy hooking and missing fish. What can I say.

Overall, a very good week of fishing here in Western Montana. Between salmon flies, golden stones, green drakes, pmd's, and caddis, there was plenty to offer these fish. Best of all, they seemed willing to accept almost any well
presented drift.

We're hoping for salmon flies to last the rest of this week... And perhaps a few days more. With the smaller golden's coming off now in good numbers, we do not expect too large a delay in feeding activity.

Most of the rivers are in good shape with the exception of the Clark Fork below Missoula. The forks on the Root are dropping quickly and only time will tell how many more days we will be able to spend on these.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 15 thru June 22, 2009

Salmon flies are all the way to the damn on the West Fork, and a little above Sula on the East. That's the good news. The back side of that report is... Toward the end of the week there were so many salmon flies it actually
made fishing a little difficult in some stretches.

Water color is getting fishable on all of our streams, with the lower Clark Fork still showing the most color. With cool temperatures toward the end of the week, and forecast for early this week, we might find all the streams
fishing by mid week. The one caveat is that we did have quite a bit of rain over the weekend and we might get a little spike in flows due to the heavy precipitation.

Over all, with temps forecast to climb back into the mid to upper 80's by the end of the week, if all the salmon flies are not frozen with the weekend and early week chill, it could be a pretty good week of fishing.

The major bug being tossed is still the salmon fly. However, good hatches of PMD, and goldens', along with a few drakes, have provided respite for those tired of tossing those big bugs for a few hours in the afternoon.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 8 thru 15, 2009

Early week found salmon flies on the lower river (Hanna to Anglers Roost). Unfortunately, there were so few of them, coupled with the fact water levels were still quite high, it made it difficult to fish them on top. Thus, the
early part of the week was spent chucking nymphs up on the Forks. Though this method was fairly successful by mid week the water levels had dropped (about 1,000 cfs/day) and salmon flies were way up the east fork.

Needless to say, we thru away those nymphs and began tossing dries.

By Sunday salmon flies began to flutter around the West Fork (lower end) and we had limited success tossing dries in this stretch. With the outlook for the week being somewhat milder in temps, I would expect the hatch to proceed slowly up the forks... Producing some good to excellent fishing this week.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 1 thru 8, 2009

Well, it's that time of year again. Rivers are dropping nice, and... Though today will be my first day on the water for a few weeks... I was up scouting yesterday and found several salmon fly nymphs along the upper Bitterroot.
With temps forecast in the mid to upper 70's by mid week, I expect we should have some good fishing for awhile now.

For all of you who might be bringing their own boats this year, a word of caution. The West Fork of the Bitterroot has two severe log jams on it. The first is up around the Rombo campground the second is down around the old
Marties bridge. Remember, in high water, hug those inside curls... And don't be too proud to park the boat and check that corner if you can't see around it. Be safe and let's get some fish while the salmon flies are happening.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
May 17 thru May 24, 2009

High water dominated the fishing scene this last week. Nothing abnormal. May is generally when we experience our strongest snow melt every year. Highest flows so far have been a little over 9000 cfs at Darby. Right now they're running around 7000. With the forecast weather report claiming a week of 70's, I'd expect this week to continue moving snow, but probably at a slightly reduced rate.

I'll be surprised if those salmon flies don't start showing up in the next couple weeks, and if things don't get a whole lot worse on the run off, I look for some good to excellent fishing.

Remember, if you're out fishing on your own this time of year, be a little more diligent as things come on you a lot faster in high water.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
May 3 thru May 17, 2009

We finally got that warm weather we've all been sitting around waiting for. This weekend the thermometer tipped the scales at a little over 80... Which finally got some of that snow moving. Right now, we're just kind of sitting
watching water levels rise.

It's been a pretty cool spring so far, which means, it will either stay on this pattern and we might never have a huge runoff; it might stay warm, and we'll get a whole lot in the next few weeks; or it might be a combination of
the two.

The easiest way to gauge what it's doing is to go on our website on 'stream flows', scroll down to the 'Upper Colombia River' section and look for 'Bitterroot River' above Darby. It will tell you how things are shaping up
for water flows.

I'm hoping to get back on the water around the first of the month. This week is the kids fishing day... So we'll be busy around here for a couple days.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 27 thru May 4, 2009

Kind of a strange one this week. I probably could do a better report on the Nooksak River in Western Washington than I could do on the local rivers... Since I was over there all week visiting one of my brothers. Fortunately,
one of our guides, Kurt, managed to stay local this week and did get some time on the water.

According to Kurt, fishing was excellent on the Clark Fork river. He spent the day surrounded by attacking skwala's (one of the largest hatches he's ever seen), fluttering drakes, and floating March browns. About the only
difficulty reported was trying to find out which fly they were on any minute. Fortunately, Kurt has spent many days on the water, and it's secrets were quickly unveiled. Kurt and his dad had a great day fishing.

Though there is no way to predict accurately, it looks like it might actually be another good week of fishing on the rivers here in western Montana. Weather forecasts are for continued mild weather (50's and 60's)
which should keep that snow pack pretty stable. With the addition of the grey drakes on the water, it makes it tough for a self respecting trout to turn down a well presented offering.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 20 thru 27, 2009

It was a tough week to report here in Western Montana. Unseasonably high temperatures early in the week sent our stream flow soaring. Neither I, nor anyone I know, did any fishing to speak of after Monday. The fact that we
were barely able to catch a whitefish on Monday... Coupled with the fact waters continued to rise thru mid-week... Might have had something to do with it.

The good news is temperatures are now dropping... To unseasonably low levels... Which is also dropping our rivers. The color is fine again and with the lowering flow levels I would expect fishing to pick up this week. If we're lucky enough to get a few gray drakes popping, things might get real interesting.

Best advice is to watch the water levels for the next few days and if they continue to drop, it might be worth getting out on the water.

I'll probably be spending a little more time with my grandson for a couple weeks.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 14 thru April 21, 2009

A definite mixed bag this last week here in Western Montana. Early in the week fishing was pretty good with mixed hatches of both March brown and Skwala. As the week progressed, however, the sun came out, temperatures rose (into the upper 70's), river levels sky rocketed, hatches diminished and fishing dropped to almost nonexistent.

Whether we are just in a 'pre-runoff bump' or the real thing will probably be decided this weekend. Though temps are predicted to return to almost normal (mid to upper 50's), they are also predicting rain. My guess is 'if the rivers don't start dropping significantly this week or early next, we're probably in full runoff.' What this means to the fisherman is we'll probably not be on the main rivers for the next few weeks. What this means to me is,
I'll probably be spending a little more time with my grandson for a couple weeks.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 6 thru April 13, 2009

It was a fantastic week here in Western Montana. Not only did our son, Cody, and his wife, Katie, have their first baby, Christian Cook, Pat and I also became grandparents for the first time. It was a wonderful experience. Pat
was actually asked to be in the room for the delivery. It was very special. Nope, the granddad's were not asked in... Though I'm not sure either of us really had the stomach for it. Even with the new age and change of custom, I think that's one place the women really do better handling.

At any rate, Christian weighed in at 6.1 pounds and a stretch over 20 inches. If we were still fishing salmon, we'd have to call him a 'shaker' as we did have to
pull on one of his toes to stretch him out to 20. I guess that means Katie can sign the log.

Oh, speaking of fishing. It was also a pretty good week. Managed to get one of our fishermen to hook up with that 23" cutbow again. He's still living behind that same red willow bush. Plenty of skwala and march browns to keep fish looking up all week. With a week of cooler weather predicted... Though there is also some rain mixed in... I'd expect things to remain fishable for at least the next week or so.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
March 29th thru April 6, 2009

Overall a good week for both fishing and weather last week. Though on Tuesday we were still saying 'is this the year of the endless winter?', by the weekend temps were in the 50's and folks were arming themselves with sun
blocker to keep down the rays.

Fishing continued good with skwala and nemora still dominating the hatches. A few march browns are entering the mix though not seen in any significant numbers by our folks yet. A forecast of cloudy later in the week might very
well trigger a decent hatch. If the temps don't get too warm during the days and the nights remain cold, we should have decent fishing over here for a while yet.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
March 24 thru 30, 2009

Brrrr. Wait, that's how I started last week isn't it? Let's try something like, 'One more week of this stuff and I'm going to start believing those folks that claim there's nothing to global warming'. Whichever option I
choose, it still ultimately came down to the end of this week was down right chilly (daytime high of mid-30's, with a wind chill of mid to upper-20's). OK. Now that we've talked about the weather, let's get into fishing.

Early week was pretty good, had a bump in the middle, late week fished well to excellent, and Sunday was tough at best... Though the one gentleman I had on Sunday did manage to land a 20' brown as one of the two fish he boated. Better fishing days of the week saw at least one to two fish brought up from almost every hole you went through.

Dry Skwala patterns are still the predominant bullet in the gun, though some nemora patterns for the mainstem and midge/bwo patterns for the slower back eddies and channels have their moments. Lower river continues to provide the largest fish while upper river produces as healthy a fish with a few more cutties thrown into the mix.

This week is predicted to remain cool... Which should keep the skwala hatch at a snails pace... Which should produce decent fishing all week. Though not for the timid, spring fishing in the Rockies is second to none.

For the birders out there, the sandhills are back in town, herons are on their nests, the first osprey of the year was spotted Sunday, red winged blackbirds are already nesting and the swallows are swooping river channels
again.

Enjoy your time outdoors and be safe.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
March 17 thru 24, 2009

 

All in all a pretty good week here in western Montana. Though we did get some unseasonably warm weather combined with rainfall late in the week... Which bumped our flows up a little... It managed to fish good go decent
right up till the weekend. We experienced a little drop in fishing over the weekend but with our flows stabilizing again, I expect good to excellent fishing most this next week.

Skwala is still the fly of choice though there are midge, bwo's, nemora and capnia on the water along with the bigger bugs. While the real perfection ado might present a match for each of these hatches, we've found a skwala floated thru the middle of that bwo hatch works just fine. Though there were not any real big fish landed this week, there were several hooked and many in the 16 to 18 inch class brought to hand.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
March 9 thru March 16, 2009

Brrrr. At least that one word pretty much summed up the first two thirds of the week. Hopefully, the last northern blast of the winter has come and gone, and what we experienced toward the weekend is more characteristic of
weather patterns for the near future.

By Saturday we had temps up in the mid 50's (I actually saw some young soul working without a shirt on Friday) and even the calves that recently arrived knew spring was on the way.

Kurt and I went fishing on Sunday (on the auspices of scouting a new braid that apparently opened up last year) even though the temps fell back into the mid 40's. There was a pretty good hatch of BWO's around noon which had trout feeding up top. Since most of you know Kurt and I, it should come as no real surprise to learn we spent all day on top. By the end of the day we'd each landed several fish (the largest being hooked by yours truly,
about a 22-23" cutbow, photo below).

Both Kurt and I fished skwala patterns all day. It seemed to make little difference which pattern you threw. If you happened to get it over a trout that was thinking about eating, it usually did. Though we did not see a lot of skwala, there were a few through out the afternoon and definitely enough to keep the fish looking up for at least 4 or 5 hours.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
March 1 thru March 8, 2009:

Man, it seems like forever since I've had to do one of these. Hope I haven't forgotten how. Anyway, yep, it actually is that time of year. Skwala's have been stacking up on the edges for the last few weeks, and, believe it or not, we're actually beginning to turn a few fish on top water skwala patterns.

This last week saw unseasonably warm temps (upper 50's to low 60's) for the early part of the week; while the later half of the week saw unseasonably cool temps. (low to mid 30's). Obviously, the early part of the week had a much higher potential than the later half. With the first part of next week also forecast to be in the 30 degree range, I'd look toward the middle to the end of next week to produce the best dry fly action. If you're merely
looking to drown a nymph or two, the fish seem to be eating skwala patterns pretty good most any day.

If you're flexible, and are looking for dry fly fishing, I'd watch weather forecasts and any time they show a couple days in the mid to upper 40's for the Root, I'd start thinking about heading over. That should be enough to get these skwala's active and should produce good dry fly action from then till high water. I've got to tell you... It's sure good to be fishing again.

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