Bitterroot River Fly Fishing

Bitterroot River

Wednesday I got back into action on the oars with local angler, Martha. This day was long overdue as I hadn’t fished with Martha in a year and I was looking forward to catching up with her and catching some trout.

We met a little later and went up to the cold water of the West Fork so we could fish all day. Martha started off with a single dry and the first fish was in the boat with the put in still in sight. In the morning it was mostly small cutts looking up.

I changed flies a few times and while the little guys were happy to cooperate, I couldn’t find a fly that the better fish wanted so we made the change to a dry/dropper rig.

If you know Martha, you know that she always has her fly in the water so I wasn’t surprised when after changing her rig I took a quick bathroom break and I came back to the boat as Martha was releasing a trout she caught on the dropper. That rig worked decent for us.

I switched up a few times and Martha found a few better fish and plenty of smaller ones. Then as it warmed up we changed again to single dry and we had some good fish looking up. The best of the day was a nice 15″ cutt that Martha spotted rising.

She cast the fly up above the fish and it ate without hesitation tight to the bank. She added a couple other better trout not long after that and I decided to take a quick break for lunch.

The afternoon started with good action right out of the gate and after a few more fish I switched Martha up to a small ant which is usually deadly on the West Fork this time of year.

It produced a few smaller ones but wasn’t what I was looking for so we tried a couple different hoppers and they weren’t much better. I probably should have never changed flies in the first place because as soon as I tied the one that had been working back on Martha started sticking fish again.

The pace in the late afternoon was a little slower but we were still moving fish every now and then. We tried like hell for a rainbow to complete a grand slam. Martha had landed a bunch of cutts, a few browns, and one brook trout.

If we could have only added that bow it would have been 4 species in a day. Still, it was a good day with plenty of action from 6-15″ trout. I had a great time trading stories with Martha and look forward to fishing with her again.

Martha releasing her own fish while I took a quick break on the bank - Bitterroot River — Martha releasing her own fish while I took a quick break on the bank – Bitterroot River

A number of decent cutthroat looking up today - Bitterroot River — A number of decent cutthroat looking up today – Bitterroot River

Martha hooked up in the late morning - Bitterroot River — Martha hooked up in the late morning – Bitterroot River

Bitterroot River

Thursday I was out with local angler, Jim, on a stretch of the upper Bitterroot. It’s the only stretch in the area that still has Hoot Owl restrictions so we met early to make the most of the day.

Jim started off with a dry/dropper rig and the first few runs of the day were empty until he finally had a greedy cutthroat eat the big dry fly.

That got things started and then he added a solid cutthroat on the dropper and a thick cuttbow on the dry just downstream.

We had steady dropper fishing for most of the morning with decent cutties coming from the likely spots and the occasional dry fly eat to keep us on our toes. Later in the morning we started to see tricos and fished an ant and a trico for a bit, but it was just small fish on that rig so we changed again to a bigger single dry.

The trout ate that in most of the spots until we stopped for lunch. The afternoon started fast with another cutt on the dry as soon as Jim started fishing.

Then it went quiet through some good water so we changed to a small ant. The next run produced two quality cutts and the ant did a good job of raising some nice fish in the slower water.

Once that started to fade we went back to a bigger dry and started moving fish in faster water again. Late in the day Jim had a big fish pound the dry in fast water and then immediately dove down into the rocks and broke us off.

With a fresh fly on Jim added two more to the tally just around the corner from the takeout. It was a solid day on the upper root.

There were plenty of cutts and cuttbows from 12-14″, a couple up to 16″, and one big one that got away. The weather was perfect until it heated up at the very end and we were all alone out on the river.

Morning light on the Bitterroot - Bitterroot River — Morning light on the Bitterroot – Bitterroot River

Jim hooked up to a solid cuttbow - Bitterroot River — Jim hooked up to a solid cuttbow – Bitterroot River

Bitterroot River

Friday I fished with local anglers, Jason and Laura. I picked a long stretch of the lower Clark Fork and packed the little motor to help cover water.

We started off with big single dries and only had a couple slaps from smaller fish in the first few runs. I switched bugs and we still couldn’t get any action on the dry so it was time to try the dry/dropper rig.

That bent the rods right away. The only problem is it was all squawfish. I kept changing droppers and it just didn’t matter. Every time we hooked up it was with another squaw.

I was starting to get a little concerned because we covered a fair amount of very good water and didn’t find a single trout. Late in the morning Jason finally broke the ice with a small rainbow on the dropper.

Then we worked into a big back eddy where Laura picked off a cutthroat on the dry and then Jason found a decent rainbow on the dropper in fast water. Laura went to work after that and connected with 3 more rainbows on that shelf.

After we landed one of those, Jason just had his flies sitting in the back eddy and he came tight on a solid fish.

I thought it was a big rainbow, but once the fish got closer we realized it was a northern pike on the dropper! I thought for sure those razor sharp teeth would make short work of the 5X tippet, but he was hooked right in the corner of the mouth and Jason did a great job fighting him.

The pike was amazing, and I was relieved to get some trout into the net as well. After lunch we stayed with the dry/dropper in some fast water and Laura landed a couple rainbows right away.

Then we switched over to hoppers for the afternoon and the first spot produced a big fish that broke Laura off in some rocks. She hooked another almost immediately after that and I quickly switched Jason up to the same fly. From there we had pretty steady fishing with 12-14″ cuttbows and rainbows on the dry.

Late in the day I changed Jason up to an ant pattern and that produced a few fish. The last one came in our final run of the day and it turned out the be the biggest at 16″.

It was an interesting day on the water. Completely dead in the morning and then a good window of dropper fishing before and after lunch, and we finished up with a solid dry fly session.

We didn’t see another boat all day, and had the entire river to ourselves.

Motoring down the canyon in the morning - Bitterroot River — Motoring down the canyon in the morning – Bitterroot River

I was so relieved to finally get a trout in the boat I had to take a shot of this little guy - Bitterroot River — I was so relieved to finally get a trout in the boat I had to take a shot of this little guy – Bitterroot River

It picked up after that and Jason and Laura had bent rods on a consistent basis - Bitterroot River — It picked up after that and Jason and Laura had bent rods on a consistent basis – Bitterroot River

Chunky rainbow in the net - Bitterroot River — Chunky rainbow in the net – Bitterroot River

Bitterroot River

Saturday was the first day of the Grizzly Ride and I fished with long-time angler, Bill. The Grizzly Riders have a long and storied history of riding, fishing, and supporting the University of Montana each fall.

Bill has been wanting to chase northern pike on the river for the last fews years and since he was solo today it was the perfect opportunity. We launched on the Clark Fork and I rowed down to our first spot.

3 casts into the day I saw a good sized pike eat the fly going away and Bill was tight to a heavy fish. I don’t think either of us were ready for it to happen that quickly, but Bill did a good job fighting that fish and it wasn’t long before he had his first pike of the day in the net.

We kept working through that first spot and Bill had a mid sized pike eat that he came tight on briefly before it threw the hook. A couple casts after that I watched a big pike just sip in the streamer and then move toward the boat.

Bill did an awesome job with several strip sets, and once he came tight that fish took off like a rocket ship. It was a good fight with the fish running around the boat several times and thrashing on the surface.

It barely fit in the net and was one of the best pike of the year around 36″ and well over 15 pounds. We continued to have good fishing the rest of the morning. Every spot we worked produced at least an eat from a pike and most of those ended up with a fish in the net.

The afternoon was definitely slower as it started to heat up. Didn’t see a fish in the first couple of spots that we worked, and Bill moved a fish in each of the last two spots but they weren’t nearly as fired up as they were in the morning.

It was still a good day of pike hunting with a pair of big ones and a handful of mid-sized pike in the morning. Bill fished hard all day and had a great time battling those toothy critters.