The Missoula Fishing Report is hard to beat right now, especially if you like dry fly fishing. About the only complaint to be had is that the morning fishing is still fairly slow, which is to be expected this time of year. All the area rivers are dropping in flow, and while the Bitterroot has been the workhorse this spring there are reports starting to trickle in of good fishing on the upper and lower Clark Fork, Rock Creek, and even the Blackfoot. All of the local Missoula rivers are an option at this point and that only helps to distribute the fishing pressure. Skwala stoneflies are still the main attraction although there are also good hatches of March Browns, Grey Drakes, and Blue-wing Olives. Cloudy days have been absolutely stellar and there have been enough bugs in the sunshine to still find some trout looking up as well.
The mayfly hatches have helped move some fish into a little faster water, but the slow water is still the ticket unless you see rising fish elsewhere. A clean dead drift in the right water is critical this time of year. In the past week the same stretch of water produced great fishing for anglers fishing strictly skwalas and others throwing mayfly patterns, but it could prove incredibly tough fishing if your focus is on classic summertime water. The long-term weather forecast looks good as well. The rivers should stay in good shape through at least next week, and perhaps even longer. If we are lucky we could see good water conditions through the end of April and that will bring some caddis hatches and some unbelievable fishing with flying skwalas on the lower Clark Fork. Only time will tell if that is going to happen. For right now, the Missoula fishing report is excellent with another week of dry fly shooting on the horizon.
