Missoula Fall Fly Fishing
Monday I was out with local angler, Skip, on a stretch of the upper Bitterroot. Even though the upper river is very low, it was our best shot at dry fly action with the sunny, warm weather on tap for today. I started Skip off with a bigger single dry and he picked up the first cutthroat of the day just under Darby bridge.
A better fish ate the dry just around the corner and the day was off to a good start. The good runs all seemed to produce one solid cutthroat or cuttbow that sipped the fly with slow confidence. The big dry worked well until we encountered some rising fish. At that point I switched Skip up to a small trico and he had two quick eats in the same spot.
From there we changed again to a black ant and that fly produced some great visual eats from a few nice fish before we slipped into the shade for lunch. First thing in the afternoon Skip poked a colorful cutthroat out of a foam hole on the ant. That fly picked up a couple more fish before we switched back to a bigger bug for some fast water and never looked back.
Skip picked up multiple fish in a couple of runs while the others steadily produced one quality trout per run. We toyed with some risers and small dries in a slow run but they were super tough to fool with only one small cutt in that spot. We finished the day with the big dry and raised some healthy fish to the surface.
It was nearly 80 degrees today which is unusual for October, but the fishing was much better than we expected considering the heat and bright sun. It was a great way to cap off the season for Skip and I look forward to fishing with again next year.
Missoula Fall Fly Fishing
Tuesday I fished with local anglers, Marcelo and Constance. Since it was to be sunny and warm again today we met early and went up to the canyon of the Blackfoot. It was chilly and we started of with dry/dropper rigs. A couple runs into the day Constance stuck a small bull trout, but overall the dropper fishing was very slow early on.
I switched flies a few times without luck and then we hooked a few in Munchmore. After that I put Marcelo on a small dry and he raised 2 or 3 in the next run. Then the dropper fishing finally started to kick in for Constance as she had a big cutthroat throw the hook on her after a long fight, and then put a couple of other nice cutts in the net just downstream.
Marcelo fooled a pair on the small dry and we found a good spot just before lunch where he raised 5 and landed 2. For the afternoon it was all dries. Marcelo stayed with the small mayfly while I started Constance on a hopper. The mayfly netted a few other fish and a particularly nice cutt off a rock ledge, but the hopper wasn’t getting much attention.
As soon as I changed Constance to a small ant she hooked up on the next cast. It was on from there. Near the bottom of the canyon both flies were raising nice fish. We had one run where Constance broke off a big fish and Marcelo had 3 or 4 other nice ones eat the blue wing. At cutthroat alley the ant became the clear winner with Constance sticking 3 on the first pass.
I switched Marcelo over to the ant as well and that was the ticket the rest of the way. We had one good double in the afternoon and several near doubles as all the likely spots were producing quality cutts. Plenty of fish in the 12-15″ range with a few pushing the 17″ mark. Constance picked off the last fat cutthroat below Monture creek and we wrapped it up for the day.
A little slow first thing, but once the fishing started it held up well the rest of the way with a solid afternoon dry fly session.
Missoula Fall Fly Fishing
Wednesday was my last day of the season and I finished it off with local angler, Jim, on the upper Bitterroot. We started the day with a dry/dropper set up and while the first run didn’t yield a fish, the next spot produced a colorful 18.5″ rainbow on the dropper. Jim did a great job keeping that fish out of bunch of submerged wood and we were off to a good start.
The next inside gave up a solid cutthroat and then Jim tagged a nice brown trout. The dropper was working well, and good sized fish were on the hunt. We had a couple runs in the morning that produced 2 or 3 fish each and most all of the other likely spots ended with a bent rod in the boat. The wind started to blow in the late morning and we pulled in behind some trees for lunch. The dropper put one more fish in the net just after lunch and then we made the change to a single dry. At first the fishing was spotty.
A couple of fly changes and still only a fish here and there with some vacant water that normally produces. Then I tied on a small black ant and the results were immediate. Jim raised 3 in that run on the ant and it only improved from there. Moderate speed and slower water was the best, and the ant fooled some really quality fish the rest of the day.
Jim averaged a couple trout in each run. If we saw them rise, then they would eat the ant and it worked just fishing the likely water as well. It was a good day for quality fish. Jim had 3 that were 12″ or under and the bulk of the action today came from healthy 15-17″ cutts, cuttbows, and rainbows.
It was consistent all afternoon despite the bright sun and wind. Not much boat traffic, mild weather, and plenty of good fish in the net was a great way to end the season. Look forward to plenty more days in the seasons ahead with Jim.
Missoula Fall Fly Fishing
After a long season I will be chasing bird dogs across the prairie and elk up in the mountains for the next few weeks. I will be in and out of service during that time, but will follow up with everyone later in November. Thank you to all who were able to fish with us this season, and for those who didn’t we certainly hope to see you in 2022. Till next year….
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Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
