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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 27 thru Sept. 10, 2007

 

Hey, I apologize for not sending out a report last week. I really do not have a good excuse... Except I forgot it. Basically the missing week was more of the same, except the good old fire god decided to show me just how little I know. The smoke did move back into the valley last week of August, just like I said it wouldn't.

September has been great though. Seasonal temperatures and clean, clear skies have reminded me once again why I live in Montana. The nights have definitely begun to get that crispness in them, and believe it or not, the leaves are beginning to turn on the trees. I guess that must mean there are some trico's and Mahogany duns in the air. Yep, there sure are, and also more than a few fall drakes.

Fishing has been what I'd consider good to excellent. If you can get a cool, overcast day the fishing is excellent, a little brighter or warmer and the fishing slows down, but there are still plenty of opportunities most days.
If you're planning on fishing western Montana in the next few weeks, be sure to pack plenty of mayflies. It might be all you need.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 20 thru 27, 2007

It's amazing what a week will do. Last week the smoke around here was so bad we canceled about 3 thousand dollars worth of bookings. A little rain early in the week, combined with cool temperatures the entire week, and we got the perfect recipe for clear skies. It was a welcome relief, believe me.

An additional benefit of last weeks weather was that most the fires around here have either been contained, or firefighters have begun to get a handle on those remaining. Though we still need more rain and cool temperatures to finally put an end to this years fire season, I believe the worst is finally behind us and we should see continued improvement in the weeks to come.

Now, on to fishing. It's been pretty good from all accounts. Mayflies early and late with terrestrials mid-day seem to produce good catches for most folks. Streamers also are turning a few heads as are those damned nymphs.
Almost all our waters are once again open to fishing, and as fall rapidly approaches, it's really time to think about getting back on the water.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
August 6 thru August 20, 2007

 

The last couple weeks have been characterized by warm temperatures, low water, and multiple fires. Of course, if this sounds a little bleak, we could add in afternoon closures on most our streams, and smoke so thick some days you were lucky to see the pond from our home. Now, I'd like to say that all of that is behind us, and we have nothing more to look forward to but clear skies and fantastic fishing. Unfortunately, I never was a good liar.

What I can tell you is we appear to be on the back side of these seasonal events. This week the forecast high is in the mid 80's... Something we haven't seen for nearly two and a half months. There are even a couple days where the forecast high is suppose to be in the high 70's. This is great news for those of us that live here, and equally great for those of you just planning on making a vacation to Montana. What this means is the firefighters should make some headway on the fires that are presently creating havoc on our forests, and any afternoon closures should definitely be a thing of the past for all the rivers here in Western Montana (right now the only one still with an afternoon closure is the Blackfoot).

The trico's have made an appearance, and there is plenty of good action during the morning hours on them. Afternoons are still predominately hopper and attractor patterns, though I expect more mayfly activity in the afternoons to happen shortly.

Right now, the smoke is almost gone in our valley, temperatures are on the decrease, fishing closures are a thing of the past, and it's once again time to start thinking about fishing in earnest. So, let's try to forget those hot, smoky days and get back to fishing.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 23 thru July 30, 2007

 

"It's a little bit funny...". This stanza from an old, mildly entertaining song, kind of sums up the fishing out here in western Montana. Despite record setting heat, low water conditions, and 'hoot owl' regulations (where you must stop fishing some stretches of water by 2pm. to reduce stress on fish), in addition to, on certain days more than a little smoke in the air, things continue to fish decent. For those of you willing to traipse up into some of the higher tributaries, it's fishing down right good.

There is no question the average size is smaller than what we were catching earlier in the month, there are still enough of those larger fish coming up on hopper patterns to make it an enjoyable morning on the river. As you migrate up higher, attractor patterns are producing dozens of fish per hour with a size anywhere from 4 or 5 inches to 14 plus. Couple the action with the awesome scenery, and for those willing to plod through knee deep water in search of pristine cutthroat, you have all the makings of a memorable outing.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 15 thru July 22, 2007

 

Walter Crutchfield with a nice rainbow taken on the Clark Fork river a few years ago.
Yep, Walter was a character.

Unfortunately, this is going to be a sad report. One of our 'family' of fishermen passed away this last week. Walter Crutchfield, of Cordova, Tennessee, passed from a massive heart attack. He had just finished a thirty five mile bike ride, when he came home and collapsed in the shower. Before he arrived at the hospital, he was pronounced dead. Walter has been a regular with us for the past 8 or 9 years. He chose to come out in October of each year, and drove the many miles each year. Walter was a quiet man, with a huge heart. Walter was 46 when he passed on. His smile will be greatly missed, both at the breakfast table as well as on the water.

On a less serious note, fishing has slowed down a bit here in Western Montana. The weeks of hot weather are starting to catch up to us. Though there is still plenty of action in the morning hours, once that water temperature rises, the fish seem to head to the deepest, most oxygenated, piece of water they can find... and don't readily leave. We're still getting plenty of fish in the morning, and a few nice ones, but unless things start to cool down a bit, it looks like those glory days are on hold for awhile.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 9 thru July 16, 2007:

 

It seems a sad day when I'm forced to spend more time explaining regulations than talking about fishing... but here goes. First however, let me touch briefly on fishing. The fishing remains good to excellent, despite record breaking temps... still wondering if we're living in a global warming period? Mayfly patterns continue to produce well in the morning hours, while hoppers and attractors work well in the afternoon.

Now, back to that regulation stuff I was going to talk about. First, the entire state of Montana is not shut down to fishing. What's happening is that several stretches of our waters are becoming extremely warm in the afternoon hours... which makes living difficult at best for fish. When fish are then hooked by an angler, mortality increases exponentially. Therefore, certain stretches... those in the lower portion of our rivers are being closed to fishing by 2 pm in the afternoon (morning fishing is still fine).
The hope for this is that we will still have fish to fish for next year and the year after by being a little sensible now.

Anyway, what does this have to do with you and your upcoming trip? Not a whole lot. Fortunately, we at Backdoor Outfitters have day use permits for the national forest. If it gets too hot during the day, we merely head up into the creeks in the afternoon and fish them... a treat anytime, but when things get tough it's kind of nice to know you're one of only three or four outfitters allowed to be on some wonderful watersheds. Otherwise, if you really want to fish the lower rivers, we just get up a couple hours early and fish till 2pm.

On another front, let's talk about forest fires. For those of you who have been out west in the summer time during the last 10 or 12 years, I'm sure you've seen one or more forest fires. The reason for these are many, and we won't go into that right now, but because of forest practices, it has become the norm out here. Anyway, it's etting to that time of year again. It's been an extremely hot year so far... with little to no rainfall. We've already had a couple fires here in the Bitterroot, and we expect several more. The impact of this is that we'll probably go to something other than barbecued lunches. And, unless the smoke gets bad, that's probably about the worst thing that you'll experience from the fires.

I hope I haven't completely bored you with this report, but I've had a couple of questions about it, so thought it best to answer some of your questions in our weekly report. Thanks for your indulgence.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
July 2 thru July 9, 2007

 

Despite extreme temperatures, and bright days, it was another excellent week of fishing here in Western Montana. Plenty of golden stones and pmd's... as well as caddis in the early hours and late in the evening... kept fish looking up almost all day.

With another week of warm weather predicted... man when's it going to quit?... it's anyone's guess as to how long this fishing will keep up. The best news regarding future fishing is there are plenty of hoppers showing up, and ants are starting to work well. There are also good numbers of the small goldens, but I fear they are beginning to decline.

When you head over this way, don't forget to bring plenty of sunscreen, some polorized glasses and a good hat. Unless this heat wave decreases, you'll probably need them.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 25 thru July 2, 2007

 

Overall a darned good week of fishing for most of us. Though a couple of days... in a few stretches... fished a little slower than we'd like, overall it would have to be characterized as good fishing.

Good to excellent hatches of golden stones, pmd's, yellow sallies, and bitterroot stones, along with caddis in the evening, kept most the fish looking for something this week. 'Bluebirdy' and even hot days did little to dampen most trout's hunger. Once again, several fish in the 18 to 20 inch range were brought to hand, and even more were viewed at a distance... just before they either spit a hook, or broke a tippet.

With another week of hot temperature's forecast, I'd be sure to bring plenty of sunscreen and a wide brimmed hat when you venture onto the water this week. Though we're still too early for hoot owl regulations, some of that early morning and late evening fishing might be you're best bet this week.
Don't ignore some of the creeks either, as their cooler temperatures and bug activity should provide some excellent action for novice and expert alike.

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 18 thru June 25, 2007

 

It was a transition week here in Western Montana. The upper stretches still have remnant populations of salmon flies, but the fish seem less willing to take an artificial offering than they were only a few days ago. Perhaps those lunkers of the rivers have dined their fill on these large insects...
or perhaps they have just seen too many artificial flies to pay them much attention. Whatever the reason, salmon fly fishing is drawing to an end.

Fortunately, planet earth seldom completely leaves us empty. As the flutter of salmon fly wings depart the canopy, the gentler rustle of golden stones and pmd's fill the daylight hours. Then, as evening approaches the frantic dance of caddis depositing eggs along the currents seem to entice even the wariest of trout back to the feeding lanes. Of course, those lanes change with the changing environment. The trout have moved off the banks and away from the bushes, back toward the riffles and current lines that travel deeper pools.

According to the weather man, we're looking forward to some definite summer weather. With predicted weather in the upper 80's to low 90's for most the coming week, look forward to some of your best fishing early and late. Of course as long as those goldens and yellow sallies continue to emerge, expect decent to great fishing mid day with a good pattern presented in a convincing manner.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 11 thru June 18, 2007

 

Just another week in paradise. Last week continued to produce good fishing on both salmon flies and golden stone... as well as mayfly patterns. The forks of the Bitterroot as well as the Blackfoot have decent hatches of the large stone flies, and any overcast day adds a healthy mix of green drakes and pmd's into the mix.

As water levels continue to drop, the main stem of the Bitterroot is beginning to fish as well as the lower end of the Blackfoot. The Clark Fork remains off colored making fishing it difficult at best.

We're hoping for another week to ten days of salmon flies... though weather will play a huge role in how long this continues... and more hatch of the large golden stones followed by an appearance of their smaller relatives.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
June 4 thru June 11, 2007

 

I'd say we had somewhere between a good and an excellent week of fishing.
Several fish were landed in the 18 inch class, and one actually topped the 20 inch length. Between green drakes... on those cloudy, damp days when the salmon flies refrained from flying... and the warmer days... when salmon flies were landing in fishermen's mouths... it was great fishing.

Water conditions remain good on the Bitterroot and it's forks. The Clark Fork and Blackfoot are still a little off colored, but we're expecting those to drop into shape sometime this week... if the weatherman is accurate with his prediction about dry weather all week.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
May 21 thru June 3, 2007

 

In the mountains, buffalo calves are scampering along the grasslands as elk calves slide from their mothers womb. Along the cliffs, peregrine falcons are caring for their chicks, while along the stream banks salmon flies are lifting from willow branches. Yes, folks, it's salmon fly season and it's time to ride those waves and toss a really big bug.

The salmon flies broke out in earnest toward the end of the week and fishing a dry fly is once again happening here in Western Montana. Though water conditions in the Clark Fork are a little off, and portions of the Blackfoot and Bitterroot are both high and a little off colored, the upper ends of most these streams are fishing from good to excellent with a big bug tossed hard against the water and twitched along current lines.

We will once again try to keep this fishing report update once a week from here on... for those of you who still check. Talk to you next week.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 30 thru May 14, 2007

 

The last couple weeks have been dominated by high water here in Western Montana. Warm weather and a little rain have combined to keep most our rivers at the edge of flood stage. Fishing has been confined for the most part to lakes and irrigation ditches.

The good news is that as we approach the beginning of salmon fly season, our water conditions should be in good shape. With still a couple weeks left until we expect these monster bugs to make an appearance, and more warm weather in the forecast, by the time they show, most of our heavy runoff should have ended.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 23 thru April 30, 2007

 

Last week saw the official beginning of run off. Until the middle of the week, all our streams fished good to excellent. Toward the end of the week, clear skies and extremely warm temperatures dominated the weather. Though there continued to be good hatches, rising river conditions made fishing difficult at best.

We will continue to provide a few reports between now and June, but if you'd like to keep a pretty good thumbnail on what's going on, you can just go to our fishing report page, click on stream flows, go to the upper Columbia River streams, and look up your favorite location.

With waters up in all our systems right now, we look for fishing to be almost out of the question for the next week or two. Once things peak... and either stabilize or start down... the fish will once again return to the surface for feeding.

Cancelation Openings - these won't last long:

July 9 thru July 13. Also a great time for both green drakes and golden stones. This spot is for 2 people, and is a three day, four night opening

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 17 thru April 23, 2007:

 

It's almost starting to sound monotonous. It was another good week of fishing here in Western Montana. Though we did have a little high water in some of the streams mid-week, there were others that dropped... making for some good fishing.

Once again, skwala and nemora were our best overall patterns, but mid-day usually brought out a few blue wings and march browns, creating a good change for a couple hours.

Water conditions remain in good to excellent shape, and if we can avoid a huge amount of rain mid-week our rivers should stay in decent shape for at least the next five days... if you can believe the local forecasters.

I did see some caddis this week, though I have yet to observe any gray drakes. Nemora remain thick at various times, skwala continue to trickle off, blue wings are good for a couple hours a day, and march browns...
though dwindling in numbers... still appear sporadically.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 9 thru April 15, 2007

 

It was another good week of fishing here in Western Montana. Cool and overcast days made deciding which fly to throw quite easy. Of course, the numerous mayflies floating along foam lines didn't make things any more difficult. Couple the may fly activity with enough skwala and nemora to keep the fish looking and you had a recipe for great dry fly action.

With the weather forecast for this week being more of the same... with the exception of some much needed rainfall early in the week... we're hoping for another good to excellent week of fishing. Although I haven't seen many yet, we should be getting close to having more caddis and gray drakes on the water any time. I doubt that will hurt anyone's feelings when they do make their appearance.

 

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Western Montana Fishing Report
April 2 thru April 9, 2007

 

Last week was a pretty good week of fishing. Most days, the clouds were settled over the valley, and temps were in the mid to upper 50's. Decent numbers of skwala were on the water... as well as numerous nemora most days... and fish were willing to take a chance on a well presented bug.
Mid-day produced good hatches of March Browns and BWO's. Cripples and duns, with an apparent preference for cripples generally did the trick at this time.

The weekend offered a few more challenges. Though perfect for those that just wanted to float and look at scenery, Easter weekend, turned out blue skies and temps in the low 70's. At this time of year, those conditions are perfect for chasing Easter eggs around the park, but a little tough on those trying to catch many fish.

With low temps and overcast skies predicted for most the coming week, we're hoping for good fishing most the week. Although I haven't seen any yet, we should be coming up on a few caddis mixing into the hatch, as well as some grey drakes any time.

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Western Montana Fishing Report:
March 19 thru April 2, 2007

 

Though there really wasn't all that much of earth shaking proportions to report two weeks ago... that was not the real reason we did not send in a fishing report. Our web manager decided to skip the country for a short time and that's why we failed to post a report.

Basically, the water went up and down over those two weeks. There were a couple fairly decent days of fishing two weeks ago, though the majority of the days found side channels and slow water definitely the preferred resting spots for trout. There were few bugs with the exception of nemora and midge in the air and streamers produced more fish than anything on top.

Last week things began to change. We managed to turn several fish on top though to say things were dynamite would definitely be a stretch. Most days found good to excellent fishing in the side channels with the main stem producing few if any strikes. Extremely cold mornings meant most fishing was done in the afternoon hours... with several days producing best from 3 till 7.

Over the weekend we began to see more skwala... hopefully indicating these things are about to get going a little heavier... and several days March Browns made a strong appearance. Our best flies continued to be Nemora patterns, big Skwala imitations, and March Brown duns and cripples.

With the weather forecaster predicting another week of cold nights... but warming days... we're looking for more skwala to pop as well as more mayflies. I'm still convinced we have not seen the real skwala hatch yet, as when I turn over rocks along the banks, it seems every rock hides at least two or three stone fly nymphs.

Sorry about the week of no reports, but it should not happen again for a little while.

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Western Montana Fishing Report:
March 12 thru March 19, 2007

Changing weather brought mixed fishing this week. Unseasonable warm weather coupled with some rain spiked our systems early in the week, however, by the weekend some cool evenings had the rivers looking pretty good.

There are lots of nemora fluttering around on top, but just a few skwala to be found so far. The best activity still seems to be dragging a nymph, but the fish seem to be more inclined to take a top water fly every day. A couple guys that fished with us this week commented, 'if we can find a fish feeding, we own em'. The only down side is there still aren't a lot of fish actively eating.

With more warm weather predicted this week, we're going to need some cool nights to keep these systems from blowing up again. Let's hope the weather man is correct, and those nights cool down.

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Western Montana Fishing Report:
March 5 thru March 12, 2007

 

Well, here we go. Another year, and a whole new series of fishing reports.

Before we go too far, let's get caught up on what went on this winter. Our snow pack is a little below the norm... though in pretty good shape. We're running at about 85%, right now, on our snow pack and 100 on our precipitation for the year. So, though it was a warmish winter, we got a decent amount of water in both the valleys and mountains.

From what I understand, fish counts remain strong without any significant rise or fall in populations. This probably means we should experience good to excellent fishing for another year. Look for a little low water again, unless we have a wet, cool summer. But, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Now, for some current news.

I was able to get out one day last week with a buddy of mine. Me did manage to catch a couple nice fish on top (a 16 inch cutty and an 18 inch bow) using a cross between a skwala and nemora imitation. Several fish were also caught using a nymph... though most of those were white fish. I tossed a small black streamer (one of Ron's) in one hole, and managed to hook up a decent rainbow and had another real good tug. During the day we went out...
which was around the middle of the week... we saw almost no bug activity at all despite it being a warm, overcast day.

Two days later, a friend of mine picked up two skwala adults near the Bell Crossing bridge. These were the first definitive sightings I know of this season. Another friend of mine found a couple more... on the same day down on the south end of Hamilton.

With another week of warm, overcast weather predicted, I would expect more skwala to appear every day. My guess is it is only a matter of days... if not today... when a well presented dry will illicit as many or more strikes than a nymph or streamer.

Now, just briefly, a note on Pat. She continues treatment and her fight. Her spirits remain strong and she is as determined as ever to beat this thing.

Thank you, one and all, for your constant support and letters of encouragement. I am convinced they have helped in this battle.

Till next week.