Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Monday I fished with local angler, Jeff, and his good friend Chris. This was Chris’ first ever float trip so we ventured to the upper Bitterroot looking to fish dry flies. The first hour or so we focused on casting angles, mending, and getting a good drift from the boat.

Jeff picked off a few little guys in the back seat but the fish weren’t really looking up early. Chris picked up the basics fairly quickly and started to get some dry fly eats. He missed the first couple, then hooked up briefly, and closed the deal on the next trout to eat which was a decent rainbow.

As the morning progressed we had lots and lots of PMD spinners in the air but the trout were not super fired up about them. We tried several different PMD patterns and they all brought fish up, but it was spotty at best.

Chris tagged a nice cutthroat that was rising in a riffle and then Jeff fooled a good cutt that was rising tight to a woody bank. The guys put a few others in the net during the morning until we pulled into the shade for lunch.

While we ate I started noticing some small golden stones flying around so we switched up bugs for the afternoon. Jeff hooked up right away in the first spot after lunch and Chris had a couple solid eats on that bank before picking one up at the bottom.

The fishing was more consistent in the afternoon. It wasn’t gangbusters but it was a steady pace. Jeff quietly stuck fish in the back of the boat including a great eat from a thick 16″ cuttbow. Chris did well for his first float trip.

He had a couple of bigger fish break him off on hard runs, but he landed a number of cutts, cuttbows, rainbows, and one decent brown trout. Jeff and Chris doubled up on one of our last good banks.

The hatch had pretty much dried up at that point and we pushed to the take out after another couple spots. Considering the bright sun and the heat, it was a decent day of fishing on the Bitterroot.

Chris hooked up in the morning - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Chris hooked up in the morning – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Plenty of healthy cuttbows and cutts - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Plenty of healthy cuttbows and cutts – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

A few brown trout mixed in - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — A few brown trout mixed in – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Jeff stayed busy in the back seat - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Jeff stayed busy in the back seat – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Tuesday was my first day of the season with local anglers, Cindi and Sandra. We met early and set off for the Bitterroot around Hamilton. I started the ladies off with dry/dropper rigs and Sandra didn’t waste anytime with a fish on in the first spot.

She had a fish eat her big dry fly in the next run and we were off to a good start. The dropper was the most consistent for us and Cindi doubled up with Sandra a little further downstream.

There were plenty of whitefish on the hunt, but the ladies were sticking some nice trout too. We had another double with a brown and cutthroat early on, and then Cindi picked up a hot rainbow at the base of a diversion dam.

I rowed back up after letting that one go and Sandra came tight on a jumping rainbow of her own. The ladies picked up another double with a pair of rainbows on a fast, foamy edge and then we slid into the shade for lunch. In the afternoon I put Sandra on a single golden stone in the front and kept Cindi on a dry/dropper.

That was a good combo as Sandra picked up some nice dry fly fish and Cindi got tight in the deeper water with the dropper. We finished the day with a flurry. Cindi landed 2 on the dropper along a rocky bank and then Sandra fooled a rising trout, and then stuck another decent cutthroat in the tailout of that pool.

I rowed back up to fish it again and Sandra connected with a fat 15″ cuttbow to cap off the day. It was good action from start to finish today. We boated trout from 6-15″ with most in the 12-13″ range.

Cindi and Sandra each landed cutts, cuttbows, rainbows, and a couple browns. The fishing held up better than I expected for a sunny 98 degree day.

Cindi hooked up in the morning - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Cindi hooked up in the morning – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

The ladies had a few doubles today - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — The ladies had a few doubles today – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Sandra with a nice rainbow - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Sandra with a nice rainbow – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Wednesday I was out with local angler, Bob. We met early and headed to the middle Bitterroot with the hopes of some bigger fish. We started out with a big nocturnal stonefly dry.

It can be a good play early in the morning, but the trout didn’t care about it today as Bob only had one small trout take a swipe at it in the first several runs. We switched to a dry dropper rod and that produced a decent brown trout in short order.

I hoped that was a sign of things to come, but the dropper didn’t yield much else except for whitefish in the next few spots. Then we spotted some rising fish and switched over to a PMD spinner. Bob picked off a rising brown trout, hooked a rainbow just prospecting, and then stuck a better brown in super skinny water.

Then we found a couple tough fish rising in a super slow tailout and Bob briefly hooked a big brown that spit the fly out. Not long after that pulled into the shade for an early lunch. We started the afternoon with a short leash rig and Bob immediately hooked a jumping rainbow in a big back eddy.

He picked up 2 more in that spot including a fat 16″ bow. The next fish broke off on a hook set and we decided to switch back to the dry fly and look for risers. It was a shallow run and I actually heard the fishing eating before I saw it. I had to put the brakes on the boat and find exactly where the rising fish was.

It was tucked tight to the bank under the shade of several overhanging bushes. The cast to get in there looked nearly impossible to me but we decided to give it a shot. I thought for sure we would get snagged in the bushes casting to this fish, but Bob’s first 7 or 8 casts were almost perfect.

Each time he made it into the spot without hanging up, but the fly was just 4-6 inches short of the fish’s lie. And this trout wasn’t going to move an inch to eat a fly. He had plenty of food coming through his little hidey hole.

Naturally we started casting more aggresively to get the fly far enough in there and consequently started hooked bushes and limbs. Bob managed to save the fly each time and not spook the fish. Eventually he made a cast that he didn’t think would work and that fly landed the extra 6 inches we needed.

I hollered to leave it and a few seconds later that trout sucked it down. Bob came tight and a massive 20 inch class rainbow was jumping out of the water. That fish jumped four or five times and eventually came unbuttoned. Still it was the highlight of our day.

9 out of 10 days we never would hook a fish in a spot like that, but it all came together for Bob in that moment. And that’s really what fishing is about, moments that are captured in our memory forever. At that point it was starting to get hot out.

We fished a couple more spots and one more good eat before coasting to the take out. Fun day on the Bitterroot with Bob today.

Sunrise on the Bitterroot - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Sunrise on the Bitterroot – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Brown trout on the dropper to get us started - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Brown trout on the dropper to get us started – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Bob hooked up to a riser - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — Bob hooked up to a riser – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

It was a brown trout kind of morning - Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide — It was a brown trout kind of morning – Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Thursday I had the chance to get on the water with a couple of anglers I don’t get to see often enough. Jim and Heather have been out over the years, we have hosted Jim’s big group a few times in the fall and he and Heather have snuck over to Missoula a couple other times.

It worked out for today and we met early to fish the upper Bitterroot. There were already a bunch of boats in the water at my first choice so we opted for plan B and dropped downriver a little. There was some traffic there too, but we decided to take our time and let it settle out.

We started off with single dry flies and Heather had a couple eats in our second run. Then we came to a spot where old car bodies are used to reinforce the bank below Darby and Jim was talking about how great it would be to hook a fish off one of the car bodies.

Right on cue a big 16″ cutthroat sucked down Jim’s fly and the fight was on. The fishing was good right out of the gate. Heather and Jim had 3 or 4 doubles and just about every spot was producing a decent fish. That action tapered a little as the sun got higher but there were still fish willing to come up for the dry in the right spots.

We tucked into the shade for lunch and changed flies from mayflies to small golden stones for the afternoon. The first fish of the afternoon came in a tight spot. Heather made the right cast and a cutthroat blasted her fly in fast water. Below that Jim tagged our only brown trout of the day.

A chunky fish that hammered the dry. Then Jim connected with a couple of quality cutthroat before finishing up the day with some smaller cutts. For the conditions and the circumstances we had a great day on the water.

Despite all the boat traffic in the morning, we managed to dodge almost all of it while we were on the water. The trout were eating from start to finish and we hit the take out before it was super hot. Jim and Heather are great anglers, and incredible humans. It is always a treat to spend a day on the water with them.

Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Friday I fished with local angler, Jim, for our annual pike expedition. We launched early on the lower Bitterroot with a big pike streamer rigged up. After a handful of casts right above the boat ramp Jim was tight to the first pike of the day.

It was nice to get a fast start and then we pushed downstream to the next spot. We worked our way up into a slough. On our way up we bumped a couple smaller pike, but didn’t see anything else at the top end. Jim was fishing on our way out of the slough and he tagged one of those smaller ones.

Then I spotted a bigger fish with a big scar on it’s head. Jim made a couple casts but it wouldn’t eat and then moved off. We continued to fish blind at the bottom of the slough and Jim had a big boil on his fly right as he picked up to recast.

He set the fly back in there, twitched it a couple times and that big girl sucked it down. That was a big, battle scarred pike that went 33″ and 9.5 pounds. Our day was made at that point, but we kept on fishing. The next run gave up a couple more mid-sized pike and we had follows from some big girls.

Then we settled into one of the best pike spots on that stretch. We bumped 3 nice fish with the boat coming in there. They were sitting on the edge of the current just like a trout which surprised me. Jim worked the edge of that current seam and stuck 2 in short order.

Then I noticed a bunch of bigger fish laid up in the shallows and we took shots on those fish but they wouldn’t play. Jim tagged one more nice pike on the edge of the current before we left that run. The next spot was in the main river with virtually no current and a sunken tree in the water.

Jim had a small pike eat on the tree that didn’t come tight and then he made a long cast beyond the tree and when he started to strip the fly I could see a fish start to move. That pike did a 180 to track the fly and then smashed it before screaming out into the current.

I didn’t realize how big it was when it first ate, but when it streaked past the front of the boat I knew it was a good one. That fish was super fat, 31-32″ and over 8 pounds. After that fish swam away we tucked into some shade for lunch and then I pushed downstream to Fort Missoula.

That run definitely holds plenty of pike , but it has always been hit or miss for me. We had one fish flash on the fly but that was it, so we made tracks down to our last spot of the day. Jim had an eat right away in that spot.

Then he bagged 2 pike in a row before getting another eat from a smaller fish that didn’t come tight. He finished up with one more solid fish on a different fly. It ended up being a great day of pike fishing. We saw a bunch of fish today, had follows from some really big pike, and Jim fished very well hooking most of the pike that ate.

The visual nature of pike fishing is just too much fun. At times you can spot them like flats fishing in the saltwater, you get these long follows back to the boat, and you can almost always see them eat the fly. It’s one of my favorite things to do each season, especially on days like today.

Bitterroot Trout Fishing Guide

Saturday I was scheduled with local angler, Herb, but his grandsons were in town and wanted to go fishing so he gave up his seat for Remmi and Preston. We met early and launched the boat at Darby on the Bitterroot.

Preston has fished quite a bit and attended a couple fishing camps in recent years while Remmi is just getting into fly fishing a little more so we put him up in the front seat. In the first couple of runs the fish were coming up on Preston’s fly so I switched Remmi over to the same bug and he hooked up on a nice cutthroat in the tailout of a run.

He picked up another fish in the next spot while Preston just kept getting smaller fish to slap at his dry. I had Preston throw a few other mayflies but the fish didn’t seem that interested despite all the PMD spinners in the air and on the water.

In a long shady run Remmi drilled a fat 16″ cutthroat and then I saw a nice fish rising tight to the bank. I anchored the boat at had Preston run a few casts, we changed bugs and ran a few more casts.

Then when it seemed like we had put the fish down I showed him how to make a reach cast and while he was practicing that the fish came up and ate on his 3rd or 4th drift. It was a big 18″ cutthroat on a little rusty spinner and Preston’s biggest trout on fly yet.

Remmi hooked into another big fish in that run that broke him off on hard run. That spot was the highlight of the day for us. We picked up a few other fish here and there, but the trout were not super active today. I think the boys had just as much fun trying to catch little minnows in tupperware while we had lunch.

No matter how good or bad the fishing is, it’s important to make sure younger anglers have fun out on the water so I was happy to sit in the shade while they took turns scooping up tiny fish. Preston and Remmi were fun to be on the water with and I look forward to next time.