August Fishing Report
Hoot Owl Restrictions have been lifted for Missoula area rivers and the August fishing report is looking much better by the mid-way point than it was at the beginning of the month. August is historically a wild card month. We never know for certain what kind of fishing August will produce and our fortunes can change on a dime this time of year.
Water, Heat and Fire
Those are the 3 things that our August fishing revolves around. Mother Nature is still in charge of this trout fishing game. High water years are dreamy with plenty of clean, cold flow and happy fish that are looking to eat dry flies most every day. High water years usually bring cooler temps and little fire activity as well. On the flip side are low water seasons like the one we are experiencing now. Low water is more sensitive to hot weather and the threat of big forest fires always looms. We had both this year, and that triggered fishing restrictions earlier in the month. The Dog Days of summer were extra doggy for awhile and the August fishing report looked pretty dismal at the beginning of the month. Then Mother Nature bailed us out with cool, wet weather for the better part of a week. Water temps dropped and the river flows bumped up some, and the trout certainly responded.
The Outlook
While we would prefer the kind of fishing a high water year offers, our current situation is almost as good. The Hoot Owl restrictions earlier in the season has led to a lull in river traffic. It’s simply not very busy on the rivers right now even though the conditions are much improved. The anglers that are out there getting after it are greeted by vacant stretches and trout that haven’t seen many flies recently. Unpressured trout go a long way to producing solid fishing this time of year. Lots of solitude with fish willing to eat a well presented dry fly is about as good as it gets in late summer.
At the beginning of the month our August fishing didn’t look to promising, but now we are set to float into fall on a high note.
