July Missoula Fishing Trips

Monday I fished with long-time anglers, Jeff and Jim. We met very early for a trip up to the canyon of the Blackfoot. It was surprisingly warm at the put-in this morning and Jeff wasted no time as he stuck a rainbow in the first run on a dropper.

Jim followed suit with a cutthroat in the next spot and then a small bull trout at the bottom of that run. Early on we managed a fish out of nearly every run. The guys were fishing different droppers and they were both working well.

I had Jeff try a single dry fly in a couple spots and he picked up fish, but they were all small while the dropper was producing a better class of fish so we stayed with that most of the morning.

The fishing continued to gain momentum as Jim picked up a big cutthroat on the dry in Munchmore and then the guys started doubling up. The first double was on the big dries and then there were several more on the droppers.

Lots of quality cutts and cuttbows through the canyon. Toward the bottom there were just enough spruce moths to get a few fish looking up. We picked off a handful of smaller fish on the single dry and then Jeff and Jim both tagged good sized cutts on a spruce moth.

When the moths faded we switched to a bigger dry and that raised some quality fish below the canyon until we stopped for lunch. The afternoon produced a bunch of little guys looking up for the dry so we switched back to the dry/dropper.

Jeff picked up another good cutt and then Jim came tight on a big dry fly eat. That turned out to be a nice brown trout that completed his grand slam for the day with a cutthroat, rainbow, brown and bull trout in one day.

Even better, after netting the brown I realized Jim had another fish on his dropper. It was a rainbow and he landed the rare “single/double” with two fish on one rod. To cap the day off the guys doubled up one final time as we pulled the boat into the take out.

It was a very good day of fishing with lots of action from start to finish and good numbers of fish of all sizes, from 8″ up to 18″. It’s always a hoot fishing with these brothers and I look forward to getting back on the water with them next month.

July Missoula Fishing Trips

Tuesday was the first day with new anglers, Buck and Lynelle. This was their first trip to Missoula and on day one we left early for the Blackfoot. Buck had fly fished a little and this was Lynelle’s first time so after a quick lesson, we started fishing.

We worked the first few runs with just a dry fly to get familiar with float fishing, and had a couple eats on top. Then we went to the dry/dropper rigs and the fish were definitely looking for the dropper.

Buck landed 2 and Lynelle hooked one in the first run. Then they each boated a trout in the next spot. We continued to see action in all the good runs. Buck had a big bull trout come out of the depths to chase the cutthroat on the end of his line.

That was exciting to see and a relief to that 14″ cutt when it made it to the net. Lynelle hooked a few more after that first fish, but she was enjoying the beauty of the river and all the birds so much that she decided to reel up and just soak it all in after the first couple hours in the morning.

Buck continued to connect with cutts and cuttbows on the dropper through most of the canyon. We switched to single dry for a while and had some decent fish looking up, including a big cuttbow that came unbuttoned during the fight.

Then we were back on the dropper to round out the day with a few more fish before it started to heat up. There was good action from start to finish. The average fish was a little smaller today. Buck landed lots of 10-14″ cutts and cuttbows with only a couple in the 15-16″ range. It was a good way to start their trip.

July Missoula Fishing Trips

Wednesday was my first day of the season with long-time angler, Cindi. We were joined by her new neighbor Sandra who has fly fished all over the world. We launched early on the upper Bitterroot casting single dry flies.

The action was fair early on. It was mostly smaller cutts looking up for the dry as I cycled through several different bugs. Sandra did fool a nice 14″ cutt tight to a bank in the morning, but everything else was smaller so at lunch we changed to a dry/dropper rig.

Of course, lunch prepared by Cindi was spectacular as usual. We also found out at lunch that the ladies needed to be off the river a little earlier than planned so we strictly focused on the good spots all afternoon.

That plan worked well as fish were looking for the dropper in all the deeper runs. Sandra stuck a pile of nice fish in the afternoon and we had 3 or 4 doubles too. Cindi connected with a solid cutthroat on the big dry.

Sandra had a pair of quality rainbows on the dropper. There was lots of action from cutts and cuttbows in the 10-14″ range with a handful of bigger fish thrown into the mix. Sandra was happy with her first ever float on the Bitterroot and she and Cindi fished really well together.

I look forward to seeing more of both of them on the water.

July Missoula Fishing Trips

Thursday I was back out with Buck and Lynelle. They wanted to see a different river so we launched early on the Bitterroot at Stevi. Lynelle choose to just float early on and take pictures of the birds and gorgeous sunrise.

Fish were looking for the big dry early as I switched Buck back and forth between a single dry and dry/dropper. The single dry was getting more attention for the first hour and a half as he landed a couple of thick rainbows on top.

As the sun got higher the dropper was the more consistent option. In a side channel Buck stuck two big cuttbows near a log jam and then connected on a third, bigger fish in the slow water below.

Seeing all that action convinced Lynelle to grab the rod and we put her in the front of the boat for a while just after lunch. She picked up a decent brown trout on the big dry and then a feisty rainbow on the dropper.

Then we took a break to chase northern pike in the slow water. Buck had never caught a pike on a fly rod but he was eager to give it a shot. Just a few casts in he had a smaller pike come out and slash at the fly but the hook didn’t stick.

Then just a little further down the bank a big girl came out and hammered the streamer. The fight was on from there. It was the hardest fighting pike I’ve seen all year and Buck did a really good job of keeping it out of the submerged wood.

Not only was it his first pike on fly, but it was the biggest pike to date. Once we finished up the pike spot Buck tangled with another rainbow on the dropper in the next run and then they were both content to just float it out to the boat ramp.

I had a lot of fun introducing Buck and Lynelle to the Missoula rivers over a couple of days.

July Missoula Fishing Trips

With a cancellation on Friday I decided to take my son, Thomas, out for some fishing. He has been missing out on baseball all summer due to surgery, but the doctor just cleared him to get out of his leg brace so we took the chance to hit the water.

Smallmouth bass, was his immediate answer when I asked him what he wanted to fish for and that sounded great to me. We caught a bunch of nice smallmouth all day, even brought a few home for a fish fry over the weekend.

There was one bonus pike in the mix as well. He even rowed the boat for a while and put me on a few. I have a little more time off in August and look forward to fishing with Thomas again soon.

July Missoula Fishing Trips

We had a little relief from the heat this week with some days in the 80’s and low 90’s, but it continues to be warm in general. While we do not have any fishing restrictions on our rivers in western Montana, early start times are still key to take advantage of the best fishing before it warms up.

We will stick with that program until we get a change in the weather.

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Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516