Great September Fishing
Monday I was on the water with local angler, Bob. We always try to hit a favorite stretch of the upper Clark Fork each season so we made a point of floating there today. We started off we a hopper/dropper rig and the trout proved tough to keep hooked early and of course, we couldn’t shake off a couple of the whitefish we encountered.
Bob got things rolling with a smaller bow on the dry fly and then I switched the rig to a different hopper and smaller dropper. That was the ticket especially in the slower water. The first big fish of the day ate the dropper and then came jumping straight at the boat.
From there it was pretty fast action with fish coming out of the likely spots. We found a great back eddy/side channel that produced 3 nice fish all 17+” with the biggest a fat 18″. The little dropper fooled a couple more before we took a break for lunch. The character of the water changed in the afternoon so we went back to a big dry and heavy dropper.
The second run we fished had a nice trout eat the dry and another on the dropper in the very same spot. Fast water was the key as we focused on the rock gardens and soft spots behind them. Thankfully that type of fishing didn’t require long casts because the wind started to kick up around 1:00.
Those rock gardens all produced as Bob connected with at least one nice trout in every spot and a few runs gave up multiple fish. They were hard fighting cuttbows and rainbows that went screaming all over the run and gave some good jumps too. Bob picked up another fish in the last rock garden and then stuck a rainbow out of the confluence with the Blackfoot to cap off the day.
At that point the wind was blowing 20-30 mph straight. Bob had already caught a bunch of nice fish and there wasn’t much point to keep fighting the wind at that point so we rowed to the take out. It was a great day, we had the river to ourselves and boated a bunch of quality fish from 12-18″.
Great September Fishing
Tuesday my L.A. ladies, Penny and Dianne, were back in for a quick 2 day trip. They had to scratch their normal dates later in the month, but had some short notice availability and it worked out as I had a recent cancellation. With warm, sunny weather on tap we met early for the canyon of the Blackfoot.
We started off with hopper/dropper set ups and Penny quickly hooked up to a decent cutthroat in the first run. It got exciting in a hurry when a bull trout started chasing her fish around the run. Despite the promising start the rest of the morning was a challenge.
I couldn’t find a dropper the fish would consistently eat as we changed flies several times. Most of the good drifts in likely water went unrewarded. We picked up a fish here and there, but I was scratching my head as we came into lunch because I couldn’t get the trout figured out. While we ate I noticed a few fish rising across the river as some blue-wings were hatching.
Since we weren’t really getting them on droppers, we started the afternoon with single dries. Penny had a hopper while Dianne fished a small blue-wing pattern. Right away it paid off as both ladies had eats in the first spot. We picked up a handful of smaller cutts until we saw a fish rise and then it hammered Penny’s hopper.
It was a chunky brown trout and while I was releasing that fish Dianne hooked a solid cutthroat on the mayfly. That was the story for the rest of the afternoon as we had really good dry fly fishing. The ladies stuck multiple fish in nearly every run the rest of the float. Throwing 2 different flies worked well too as Penny would pick up a couple on the hopper and then Dianne would score on a few with the blue-wing.
We doubled up a few times with the best being a pair of big cutthroat out of cutthroat alley. Below that Penny connected with a hot 17.5″ rainbow and then Dianne reeled off 4 in a row in the next spot.
We found fish of all sizes in the afternoon with plenty of quality trout from 12-17″. There was very little boat traffic and it was a beautiful September day in the canyon.
Great September Fishing
Penny and Dianne had such a great time fishing dry flies yesterday afternoon that we went right back to the canyon again today. This morning the hopper/dropper fishing was a little more active than yesterday as we had a handful of decent fish to the boat in the first couple hours.
Then we switched over to the dries earlier today and Dianne hooked a feisty cutthroat in the first run before we anchored up on a nice rising trout at the bottom of the run. It took a few casts and a fly change, but Dianne fooled that fish on a small trico. It came up for the fly painfully slow and eventually sipped it down.
That was a fat 17.5″ cutt on a small dry. We stopped for an early lunch at that point to let a few more bugs get going and then set off through the canyon with single dries. Like yesterday, every run was producing good dry fly eats. Just a few runs into the afternoon we found another spot with a big fish rising.
It was in a tough location, slack water inside the main current, but Penny made a couple of casts and convinced that big colorful cutthroat to eat. We had a number of doubles in the afternoon and it seemed like the average fish was a shade bigger today. The ladies connected with quite a few 14-17″ cutts on mayfly dries today.
Toward the end of the float we switched over to a hopper and black ant which yielded a few more fish. Both Penny and Dianne had eats in the last run and Dianne hooked up one final time directly across for the takeout. It was 2 great days with L.A. ladies and some of the best dry fly fishing I have seen recently. Everyone’s schedules came together just right to make this trip work.
Great September Fishing
Saturday was the start of the annual Grizzly Ride and I fished with long-time angler, Dan, and his good friend Skip. It was a cool, cloudy day. Perfect conditions for a day on the Clark Fork. We started off with hopper/dropper rigs and Skip had the hot hand with a small rainbow right at the boat ramp, followed by a brown trout, and then our first decent rainbow of the day.
Then Dan hooked a stick and claimed he had to get that stick out of the way and now he could catch fish. Well, damn if he wasn’t right because he had the magic touch for the rest of the day. It didn’t matter if he was in the front of the boat or the back, Dan pulled fish out of just about every run the rest of the float.
The guys doubled up in a fast run in the morning with a pair of bright 16″ rainbows. The afternoon fishing remained steady too. Dan picked up a big 19.5″ cuttbow on the hopper and Skip connected on a solid hopper fish too. Most of the rest of the action was on the dropper today. The cut banks proved productive for Skip as he tangled with a couple quality fish in those spots.
Dan’s magic touch continued the rest of the day as he netted another bright bow on the dry and had plenty of fish on the dropper too. It was a really good day on the water. We had the river all to ourselves and lots of action from healthy rainbows and cuttbows from 12-19″ with a lot of fish in the 15-16″ range.
Great September Fishing
Sunday I was back out with Dan as a single and we left early for the canyon of the Blackfoot. It was cold at the put-in but the fish were active right out of the chute as Dan connected with a colorful cuttbow just a few casts into the day. Then he stuck another fish in that run and we had a bull trout chase it briefly.
The dropper fishing in the morning was very consistent as Dan had at least one solid hook-up in every run but two. He picked on a few out of Munchmore before we moved down into the canyon and continued to encounter nice cutts on the dropper. We stopped early for lunch to let the bugs get moving and to allow some traffic to clear out.
Dan fished a single dry all afternoon although it took a little while for the fish to start looking up. Earlier in the week there were lots of mayflies but they weren’t around much today so we had to rely on terrestrials for the most part. Dan picked up a few healthy specimens on the hopper toward the bottom of the canyon and then fooled a bright cuttbow in slow water on a mayfly.
The mayfly tricked a couple more in cutthroat alley, then a black ant raised a few before we switched back to the hopper and finished off that run with a pair of bigger cutts. The hopper remained reliable the rest of the way with a few more solid fish and one last eat on top 2 runs above the take out. It was another good day on the water.
The dropper kept Dan busy all morning long and then there was enough action on the single dry to keep things interesting in the afternoon.
Great September Fishing
As we move deeper into September we are starting to see more and more mayfly hatches. Tricos, mahoganies, Hecubas, and blue-wings are showing up daily in various spots. October caddis are around on the Blackfoot too and the fish are still keying on hoppers and ants. Classic fall fishing is setting up for the next couple of weeks!
Book Your Next Fishing Trip Today! – Click Here
Check out our Fishing Packages – Click Here
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
