Montana Fishing Guide Report
Monday I was out with local angler, Jim, on the West Fork of the Bitterroot. For dry fly fishing it has been one of the better options around. Since we put in at the top of the canyon with deeper, colder water I started Jim off with a dry/dropper rig.
It didn’t take long before the first cutthroat was in the net and we continued to have fairly steady dropper action through the fast stuff. Toward the bottom of the canyon we changed over to single dry and had a couple smaller fish eat. There were lots of PMD spinners in the air so we tried a mayfly dry for a bit and that didn’t move a trout so we went back to the bigger bug.
As the day continued to warm up Jim started to move more and more fish on the dry. In the morning it was mostly small and mid-sized cutts up to about 13″. We stayed with the same fly for the afternoon with similar results. Plenty of fish eating in the right spots they were just mostly on the smaller size. Then I changed flies and that made a difference. The next fish to eat was a 14″ cutt and then we had an even bigger fish come up for the fly but it just didn’t come tight on the set.
We switched to a smaller ant pattern for that fish and after a couple drifts he came back and sucked down the small fly. That was a healthy 16″ cutt and we had a good 2 hour window where some bigger fish were looking up. Both the ant pattern and the bigger fly were working well.
In the best water Jim was raising 2 or more fish in those runs and picking off singles in between. Later in the afternoon we had dark clouds building around us with some thunder in the distance. The fish might have felt that pressure change because about the time those clouds rolled in is when the bigger fish quit eating and we started finding those 12 inch and smaller cutts again.
Those guys were still more than happy to eat the fly in all the spots but the big guys weren’t looking up anymore. Those fish kept Jim entertained until we made it to the take out with some seriously dark skies all around us. We were loaded up just in time as it started to rain 5 minutes after we got in the truck.
It was a fun day on the West Fork with good action throughout and most all of our fish on dries. The weather was great until the very end with very little traffic on the river today.
Montana Fishing Guide Report
Tuesday I was back over at Land of the Giants with local angler, Jerry. He is good friends with Dan Shepherd and after Dan’s day at LOG Jerry wanted to see for himself what it’s all about. The marina was quiet when we launched and there was only one other boat in the river as we made our way up to the dam.
The first couple passes up high didn’t produce so I made a fly change and Jerry came tight to a heavy fish on the next drift. He did a good job fighting that fish into a back eddy and eventually slid it into the net. It was the biggest trout he had ever landed at 23-24″ and super thick.
It was a pretty awesome introduction to LOG. By that time there were a couple other boats around so we made a long drift down from the dam. Jerry hooked 4 big fish on that drift including another healthy rainbow and a decent brown trout. We continued downriver to get away from traffic but the lower river wasn’t productive so we motored back up toward the dam for one more pass in the morning.
The fish were grabby up there with several more hook ups and a pair of bright rainbows in the net. By lunch Jerry said his day was made and since I know he prefers fishing dry flies I suggested we try to get one on top. He was up for the challenge as we started off with a single hopper.
There really wasn’t much of a hatch today so no rising fish to target. Our best bet was to fish blind with a hopper, and when that didn’t produce we tried an ant in a couple of spots. No love for the dry fly today so we motored out on the lake to check on the callibaetis hatch. The bugs were there.
The trout weren’t rising but it only took a couple minutes before Jerry hooked a big, bright slab on a calliabaetis nymph. That fish got off in the weeds, but he boated a nice rainbow about 5 minutes after that. It was such a pretty day that we finished up with a boat ride down into the Gates of the Mountains.
Jerry was blown away by the beauty of the place. I had a blast fishing with Jerry and trading hunting stories all day. And despite his dry fly purist tendencies, Jerry was pretty impressed with LOG today.
Montana Fishing Guide Report
Saturday I was out with long time angler, Mark, at Land of the Giants. This time of year Mark and I usually spend a day chasing carp on the fly, but the weather looked unpredictable for that so we decided to take the safer option. We were the first boat on the water and motored to the upper river.
The first couple of drifts didn’t produce a solid strike and I was scratching my head a little. It was a cooler morning so I wasn’t sure if it was time of day or if we needed to make a fly change. The next pass produced a tight line for Mark and a slab of a rainbow in the net. We tried a couple other rigs on the upper river and Mark stuck another decent bow, but the fishing was a little off from what it has been and there was a fair amount of traffic so we slid downstream into the middle river.
Mark hooked a few in there but they proved tough to keep on. After lunch I wanted to check out the upper river again and it was like night and day. The traffic had cleared out and the trout were eating. Mark was hooking a couple fish on each pass with some great jumps and hard runs from fat rainbows. Then we decided to mix it up and throw a streamer through some fast water in the middle river. Mark had two grabs in that run but they just didn’t come tight.
At that point there were some dark clouds building around us so it was time to run out to the lake to check on the callibaetis hatch and keep an eye on the weather. Mark had a strike within the first minute of getting his flies in the water. It didn’t take too much longer to find a pair of healthy rainbows and then we had a heavy fish get off in the weeds. Then it slowed down and I watched as a storm front moved in and the wind picked.
Just about the time I was going to pull the plug Mark connected with our best fish on the lake. It was a thick, dime bright specimen that made a couple of long runs. That was the perfect ending to a good day on the water. We made it to the marina just as the wind was really whipping up and the waves on the lake were getting big. Mark is always a lot of fun to fish with. It had been years since he was at LOG, and he was talking about returning again next year as we loaded the boat up.
Montana Fishing Guide Report
Sunday I volunteered for the Western Montana Casting for Recovery Retreat. In years past I had participated in the Cast One for Hope event in the Bitterroot valley, but this was my first opportunity to take part in a retreat. There were 13 awesome ladies who spent the weekend up the Blackfoot learning about fly fishing.
On Sunday they got to put that knowledge into action with some fishing on the Blackfoot river at Russell Gates. There were 12 other river helpers or ghilles so everyone was paired up with a participant for a morning of fishing. I was teamed up with Deanna from the Bitterroot and once we were rigged, we spent 20 minutes covering the basics of casting, mending, and fish fighting. Then we set off downstream.
We fished a dry/dropper set up most of the time and Deanna fished very well for her first time on the water. She was making good casts and getting nice drifts, but the fish proved to be tough. She had one trout eat her big dry fly and a couple takes on the dropper, but the hook sets just didn’t connect.
I was wishing for more time on the water as a couple hours flew by and before I knew it we had to reel up and head back for lunch. This event is about a lot more than a fish on the end of the line and I was happy to be a part of this event.
These ladies are all fighting a unique battle and they are supported by an amazing group of staff and volunteers at Casting for Recovery. If you are looking for a worthy cause to donate your time or money, CFR is at the top of my list.
Montana Fishing Guide Report
Fall is definitely in the air in Montana. The mornings are cooler and the days are getting shorter.
Our fishing around Missoula has started to pick back up as well. Hoppers, ants, and tricos are on the menu and cloudy days will bring Hecubas and Mahagony duns soon enough!
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
