Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Monday I was back on the water with long-time Skwala angler, Pete, and we were joined by his friend Matt who makes it out every couple of years. The guys were looking for action today so we headed south to the upper Bitterroot. We set off with single dry flies and Matt stuck a cutthroat in our first run to get things going.

We moved at a slow pace in the morning because I didn’t expect a lot until it warmed up. A few runs later Matt got his fly in tight to a big rock and a colorful cutthroat slammed the dry. We worked that spot a few times and on our last pass Pete had a solid cutt come up and he put that one in the net. We fished a couple more runs and then pulled in for lunch. The trout were looking up right out of the gate after lunch.

Pete had a big brown eat in the first run and the fly just didn’t stick. He followed that up with a cuttbow in the next run and went on a hot streak from there. Pete had fish eat his dry in just about every run with a lot of nice cutts and cuttbows from 14-15″. Matt picked off some quality fish too. He pulled fish out from under root balls, picked off a riser in a little side channel and had a couple eats on a March Brown mayfly.

Pete finished the day with a colored up cutthroat below a rock wall and Matt capped us off with a final cutthroat off the last downed tree above the takeout. It was exactly what the guys were looking for, lots of action all on dry flies and some great trout in the net. Pete’s already talking about next April.

Pete hooked up on the dry fly - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Pete hooked up on the dry fly – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

A bunch of quality trout today - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — A bunch of quality trout today – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Tuesday was the first of two days with local anglers, Jeff and Jim, for their April trip. Fellow guide, Jeff, had their brother Dave in his boat as we launched early for a long float on the middle Bitterroot. Despite the early start we tied on single dries and Jim had a fish eat his bug right at the put in.

A few runs into the day he connected with a nice brown trout that pounded the dry. Jim picked up a solid rainbow out of a back eddy and then Jeff got in on the action with a bow that was sitting tight to a grassy bank. There were a few other dry fly eats before we met up with the other boat for an early lunch.

We went down a side channel to start off in the afternoon, and just above a diversion dam Jeff fooled a feisty rainbow tight to a rock. It proved to be a challenging afternoon for Jim. In golf you would call it the yips, but he was getting good drifts with plenty of fish eating his dry and he just couldn’t connect with them.

It happens to all of us at some point and while it is frustrating, it was good to see the trout looking up. Jeff was finding some nice trout in the back seat. Some slow water produced a hot rainbow that went screaming downstream and then came back at the boat nearly as fast.

Later, he made a sidearm cast under Victor bridge right next to a log and a big brown instantly pounced on it which made for an interesting fight under the bridge. The weather was all over the map today. We had mostly clouds with little blue sky, a couple rain showers, and one brief spell of wind. It was a classic spring day in Montana and we put some quality trout in the net.

Jim with a solid rainbow in the morning - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Jim with a solid rainbow in the morning – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Crazy clouds over the Bitterroot - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Crazy clouds over the Bitterroot – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Colorful rainbow for Jeff with a chunk missing from it's tail - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Colorful rainbow for Jeff with a chunk missing from it’s tail – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Tailout brown trout for Jim on the dry - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Tailout brown trout for Jim on the dry – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Wednesday I was back out with Jeff and Jim. We had planned to float further downriver on the Bitterroot, but with a bright, sunny day instead of the forecasted cloud cover we changed plans and went to the upper Bitterroot. We launched early and with the cold water I started Jeff out with a dry/dropper while Jim started with a dry.

A couple runs into the float and Jeff came tight on a big, bright cuttbow with the dropper. He picked off a nice rainbow not far below that and I quickly switched Jim over to a dropper too. From there we had some active fishing on droppers with good trout coming out of the likely spots and even one double.

When the dropper fishing dropped off a touch we took a break for lunch. In the afternoon we went with single Skwala dry flies and the trout started looking up. Jim and Jeff had fish eating dries all afternoon. There were definitely a lot of eager 10-13″ cutts and cuttbows that kept us busy along with some bigger fish pounding the dry too.

For a bright sunny day we definitely made the right call going up river. It was a gorgeous float and Jim and Jeff landed a bunch of great fish today.

Jeff with a stunning cuttbow to start the day - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Jeff with a stunning cuttbow to start the day – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Another nice dropper cutt for Jeff - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Another nice dropper cutt for Jeff – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Jim hooked up on the dry - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Jim hooked up on the dry – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Thursday I was back on the water with local angler, Marcelo. He had been on the Bitterroot a couple times already so we made a plan to fish the lower Clark Fork. The bright sun in the morning gave me some doubts, but the forecast called for the clouds to move in so we decided to give it a shot.

The morning fishing was extremely slow. We tried a couple different Skwala dries and even threw a streamer for a while. Marcelo had one fish eat the dry and one grab on the streamer so we decided to have lunch and hope for bugs. At that point we had some high cloud cover and during lunch I noticed a few mayflies starting to hatch.

We started the afternoon with a Skwala, but after seeing plenty of March Browns and a couple rising fish who wouldn’t look at the big bug we switched over to a mayfly. Marcelo had a couple eats on that bank and we started to see more risers. There was just enough sun peeking through the clouds that fish weren’t rising everywhere despite all the bugs on the water.

Certain spots were productive though as we found banks with several rising fish. The hatch was so thick that the trout were tricky. Marcelo had to get a few drifts over most of those risers to get them to eat. The first was a super fat cuttbow pushing 20″. Prospecting with the dry didn’t do much, but if we could find rising fish then Marcelo could get most of them to eat.

That lasted for a couple hours and Marcelo connected with several nice fish that were all 15-19″ and hard fighting. Then the blue sky and sun came back and the fish disappeared. We just coasted and looked for heads, and toward the end of the day found a shady bank with a couple more fish looking up. Marcelo stuck one more cuttbow on the dry and then we called it a day and motored out.

It was not nonstop action today, but we did have a good hatch and caught some healthy fish on dries.

Marcelo tight to a mayfly dry eating rainbow - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Marcelo tight to a mayfly dry eating rainbow – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

When the bugs finally showed up there were some nice rainbows and cutts on the rise - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — When the bugs finally showed up there were some nice rainbows and cutts on the rise – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Friday was my first day of the season with local angler Bob. With a bright sunny day on tap we opted for the Bitterroot up around Hamilton. We launched early and started off with a single Skwala dry fly. Bob stuck a fish at the end of the first bank and then he boated a cutthroat on the dry in the next spot.

We started early today so the trout weren’t looking up everywhere in the beginning, but the right spots were producing dry fly eats and it was fairly steady all morning. After lunch the dry fly fishing continued at a similar pace. The interesting thing today was that all of the trout were 10-12″. Bob had one bigger fish hover under his fly in the morning, but other than that, everything else was the same class of fish.

I changed flies a couple times and they all produced, but it was always a 10-12″ cutt or rainbow. The action was good, we just lacked any variety in size for most of the day. Later in the afternoon on a rip rap bank Bob had a bigger fish eat that didn’t connect and then at the bottom of that run he picked off a bright 17″ rainbow.

A couple runs later we were in great dry fly water that didn’t produce and then way down in the tailout a big fish blasted Bob’s dry and went screaming upriver. I knew it was a big brown and the fight was on. Bob did a great job keeping that fish out of danger and before long he had a gorgeous 21″ male brown in the net.

That fish was a day maker and we reeled up and coasted out from there. It was a good day of fishing and a great reminder to stay focused even when it seems like just the little guys are eating. You never know when a big boy is going to come out of hiding this time of year on the Bitterroot.

Bob with his cigar and a bent rod in the morning - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Bob with his cigar and a bent rod in the morning – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

No shortage of these guys eating the dry today - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — No shortage of these guys eating the dry today – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Hard to beat a lunch spot with views like this - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Hard to beat a lunch spot with views like this – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Big rainbow that couldn't resist a Skwala late in the day - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Big rainbow that couldn’t resist a Skwala late in the day – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Gorgeous 21" brown that blasted Bob's dry in a tailout - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Gorgeous 21″ brown that blasted Bob’s dry in a tailout – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Guide Scott Stanko has been on an absolute roll with monster brown trout this spring! You can bet his schedule is filling early for next year!! - Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report — Guide Scott Stanko has been on an absolute roll with monster brown trout this spring! You can bet his schedule is filling early for next year!! – Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

Montana Fly Fishing Guide Report

It was another fun week of fishing dry flies around Missoula. 3 days of warm weather currently have our local rivers blown out.

We are set to start cooling off tomorrow so we should have option by mid-week. Skwalas are still hatching and the big March Brown mayflies are just starting so we should be in for more dry fly fishing once flows settle down.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516