Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Monday we were out with long-time angler, Steve, and his family. We met in Hamilton and floated a stretch nearby. I was paired with Steve and Burt while fellow guide, Dave, had sons William and Chaz. We started off with dry/dropper rigs and a couple runs into the day Burt connected with a nice brown trout on the dropper.
That was a great fish to start things off and then he followed with a couple of cutthroat not long after. I was trying some different bugs with Steve, but as soon as I switched him to what Burt was fishing he stuck a feisty rainbow in fast water and then a solid cuttbow.
Steve followed that up with a long cutthroat out of a big back eddy and then we took a shot at dry fly fishing before lunch. There were bugs around, but we only had one eat on top before pulling into the shade for lunch. We started the afternoon fishing dries but it just wasn’t really happening so we went back to the dry/dropper.
Burt had several fish on that came unbuttoned early and then Steve connected with a big rainbow out of a fast logjam. The fish nearly jumped in the boat on the hook set and it was a bit of a rodeo fighting it with all the downed timber. Steve survived and had a pretty 17″ bow in the net.
From there the whitefish bite kicked into high gear. We picked up a couple other trout, but it was 5 whiteys to every trout so I decided to go back to the single dry with more golden stones around. Steve had a couple eats and then Burt came tight on back to back cuttbows on a long bank.
Then Steve picked one out of a fast logjam and a little further down spotted a rising trout that fell for his golden stone. The dry fly session was a good way to round out a gorgeous float on the Bitterroot. Everyone put some nice fish in the boat and had a good time.
Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Wednesday I had local anglers, Marcelo and Constance. For a change of pace we decided to head up to Georgetown lake for the day. Damsels, callibaetis, and big traveling sedges can provide some exciting dry fly action and it’s always very pretty up there. We launched the boat and started prospecting some of the usual haunts, but there were no bugs and hardly any fish rising.
We would see the occasional trout come up once and then never see them again. It was the same story in all the spots so I had Constance start throwing a dry/dropper rig and then a damsel nymph under an indicator. She hooked two on the damsel nymph but the both came unbuttoned.
We ate lunch while I cruised with the trolling motor looking for risers. After we finished eating we motored down to a far bank that had been good to Marcelo in the past. We showed up with some fish rising and it wasn’t long until Marcelo was tight to a hot bow. That fish buried in the weeds and got off but Marcelo hooked up again in a couple of casts only to realize that the hook had bent out on the previous fish.
Constance had some luck with a damsel dry as a pair of fish creamed her dry, but it was one of those days when they just kept getting off. The dry fly action faded so I switched Marcelo to a big sedge pattern and had him strip it on the surface. His first cast got creamed and we finally put a nice bow in the net.
I thought we might be onto something with that, but then we didn’t have a fly touched again in that spot. We went further down the lake, and with no risers we switched to dry/dropper rigs. Fish were willing to eat the nymph as we started to see some consistent action.
Marcelo connected with several rainbows and one small brook trout while Constance brought a jumping rainbow to the net. On our way back I wanted to try the dry fly spot again one more time. We were there for a bit with no action and I was about ready to call it a day when Marcelo came tight on a heavy fish. It’s fun to watch them race around in that crystal clear water, and after a good fight he had a stunning 18″ brook trout in the net.
It’s the biggest brookie I’ve seen in a few years. That was the start of a flurry of activity to finish the day. After that fish they started eating the big sedge. Constance landed another nice bow and Marcelo connected on 4 or 5 more. One more big bow crushed Constance’s fly near the boat and went racing off and broke the line.
That was a good time to head back. Most of the day was tougher fishing than usual on Georgetown without many bugs or rising trout, but the late afternoon came through with some awesome fishing to close out the day.
Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Thursday we had the Bryan clan on the river for their annual float. Our original plan was the Blackfoot, but we watched a steady stream of boats head up hwy 200 at Bonner so I called an audible and we picked a long stretch of the upper Clark Fork for 3 boats. In the morning I was paired up with Laura and Jason.
The upper portion of that stretch is not the best so we picked our spots. I had Laura on a dry/dropper and Jason on a streamer to start. A few runs into the day Jason came tight on a nice rainbow with the streamer. The streamer bite didn’t continue though so I switched Jason over to a dry/dropper and we really couldn’t find a rig they wanted to eat. The other boats weren’t doing any better so I pushed down to the confluence with Rock Creek where the fishing usually picks up.
Right at the confluence Laura and Jason doubled up and then Laura added another fish at the bottom of that run. I was relieved to get some action and then I pulled into a back eddy where Laura connected with a healthy 16″ rainbow.
That was the start of some decent fishing on droppers. There were definitely plenty of whitefish mixed in, but Jason and Laura were coming tight on some decent trout as well. As we pulled into lunch Sheila was out wade fishing and had a bent rod as we pulled in. She stuck two nice rainbows in that riffle, and then after lunch she went back up and fooled a gorgeous 18″ brown trout.
In the afternoon we mixed it up and I had John and Jason in my boat. The guys fished hard all afternoon, but we could never find any consistent fishing. John picked up a couple little guys early and both anglers had some better fish hooked up, but they managed to get away.
I switched flies and fished all different water types but we could never crack the code in the afternoon. It was challenging fishing for all 3 boats today. Everyone had their “window” with some action but there wasn’t anything consistent. The highlight of the day was watching Sheila in THE SPOT at lunch.
Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Friday I was back on the water with the Bryan’s, but today it was just Sheila and Jeff. After yesterday the smart money was on the safe confines of the upper Bitterroot so we launched the boat for a long float of the Bitterroot south of Hamliton.
We started off with single dry flies and in the first several runs Sheila had a handful of eats that just didn’t connect. Then Jeff hit the first cutthroat of the day in a back eddy. Just after that we doubled on a pair of nice trout and were off to the races from there. It was consistent dry fly fishing the rest of the morning. Trout were looking up in the likely places and we doubled up a couple more times.
Jeff tagged a fat 17″ cuttbow and then just before lunch Sheila added another solid cutthroat. The afternoon started off well as Sheila came tight off a rock wall in our first spot and then Jeff picked one up just downriver. The golden stoneflies started pouring off in the afternoon and when that happened we had to switch bugs and then the rods were bent again.
The best fish of the day came not long after lunch when Sheila raised a big cuttbow out of a mid river slot. We all saw the fish come up to eat, and after a good fight she had a thick 18″ cuttbow in the net. It remained at a steady pace all afternoon.
In just about every spot either Jeff or Sheila was hooked up to a quality fish and we managed one more double in the afternoon. The last fish of the day was a jumping rainbow that Sheila tangled with as we came into sight of he bridge and takeout. It was solid dry fly fishing from start to finish with a bunch of cutts, cuttbows, and rainbows from 12-18″. It was a fun day on the river and a little redemption after yesterday.
Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Saturday I was out with long time angler, Mark and his wife Maryke. The entire focus of the day was northern pike on the fly. We have been trying to check this one off Mark’s list for a few years now. We dabbled in pike fishing on trout days in years past and last year dedicated a short and scorching hot day to pike but so far have come up empty.
Today we had the right weather and water levels to hit my favorite stretch of the lower Clark Fork for pike. We motored downriver in the morning only to find an overnight camp in the first slough I wanted to fish so we bumped downriver. The next spot was one of my favorites but we didn’t have much sun so we spooked a couple and had one strike.
Just downriver Mark had a couple follows from nice pike and one eat that didn’t connect. Then, as we worked the seam back down Mark had a flash on his fly and was solid to the first pike of the day. It was a great fish too and put up a hard fight. I was glad to finally get that monkey off our back and we slid down to the next slough. Nothing up in the normal spots, but again Mark connected on the edge of the current with another solid pike.
Our best sight fishing opportunity happened just before lunch. As Mark was working the edge of he current I spotted a fish sitting by a rock on the other side of the boat. Mark made the cast and just before the fly got to that fish another pike came out of the depths and hammered it. The first spot after lunch produced too and that was the case most of the day.
We had some fun in a shallow slough where we could see the fish well, but those pike wanted no part of us so we moved on. The final slough was a big one and Mark picked up a super hot fish that turned out to be the smallest of the day early on.
Then as we worked our way up we kept spooking fish with the boat that I just couldn’t see until we were on top of them. Mark kept casting to the likely spots and he got lit up with a big eat on the edge of a weed bed. It was super fun to watch and after another good fight Mark had another good pike in the boat. It was a great day of pike fishing on the Clark Fork and I was so happy to finally get the net under a few with Mark. He and Maryke are always a blast to share the water with. I look forward to our carp adventure next month.
Full Moon Fishing in Montana
Sunday I fished with local angler, Ron and his good friend, Larry. Ron has been fishing Montana for over 20 years but had never been to the Land of the Giants on the Missouri so we were able to head over there early in the morning for a jet boat adventure.
We ran just a short distance into the lake and I had guys fish chironomids while I rigged up the other rods. We maybe had a strike or two but it wasn’t really happening so as soon as I had the other rods rigged we ran up into the river. Ron had the hot hand early as he connected with solid rainbows on each of our drifts to start the day.
Larry got in on the act with a hot rainbow of his own on our third or fourth drift. Fishing was steady on the middle river, but since it was the guys first trip to LOG we ran up toward the dam to see the upper river. The faster water up high produced a couple of brief hook ups, and then the guys doubled up just above our lunch spot.
In the afternoon we reworked that double spot and picked up a couple more thick rainbows and then floated the middle river a few times where Larry tangled with a nice 20″ bow. Then we decided to fish the lake before heading home. The first spot in the lake produced a brief hook up for Ron.
Then we moved locations and Ron hooked a couple more while Larry connected with back to back big rainbows. The first was a 21″ slab and the next one was just as fat and 20″. With storm clouds brewing it was a good time to call it a day and we packed everything up just as the rain started to come down. It was a good summer day on LOG. The river was consistent with nice sized rainbows and the lake provided some fast action at the end of the day.
