Land of the Giants
Monday I fished with local anglers, Marcelo and Constance. With another sunny, hot day on tap we decided to focus on pike on the Clark Fork with maybe a chance at rising fish. Marcelo started out with the 8 weight and I was a little discouraged when we had fished most of the way through the first spot without a follow or an eat.
Then near the bottom of the spot I saw a big flash on Marcelo’s fly and he was tight to a good fish. That one ran around the boat a few times before we finally put it in the net. While we were still on anchor Marcelo made another cast into the same spot and an even bigger pike came out of the shadows and ate the fly.
That fish tipped the scales at just over 8 pounds and fought really hard. We had one more follow in the same run before moving downstream. While we moved down I had Constance prospect some pike water with a spinning rod and she connected to a fat fish in a big back eddy.
We didn’t even see a fish in the next spot which was a little surprising but I knew we still had some of our best water to come. As we were approaching a good pike spot we noticed a few fish sipping on a current seam. Marcelo quickly put the 8 weight away and grabbed the dry fly rod rigged with a PMD.
A big head confidently sucked down the bug on his second cast and he was tight to a big 20″ rainbow. After releasing that fish there were still a couple rising and Marcelo tagged a nice 17″ cuttbow. We stopped for lunch after that, and then the afternoon proved tough.
In one of my favorite pike spots in the whole area we only saw two fish and they actively refused the fly. The last spot of the day is another reliable one, but again we didn’t see any fish or get any follows. There were a couple of trout in there chasing very small fish into bait balls and busting them.
We tried stripping a small fly at those trout but they wouldn’t play. The heat had started to set in by then so we reeled up and headed to the take out. Considering the hot, sunny weather we did ok today. Marcelo boated two big pike in the morning and landed a couple really nice trout on dries.
Land of the Giants
Tuesday was the first of two days with local angler Bob. With the hot, sunny weather we decided to take a road trip over to Land of the Giants in the jet boat for a couple days. We started in the middle river and it wasn’t long before Bob had a couple nice rainbows in the net.
There were enough PMDs around that I noticed some fish rising even in the bright sun. Bob grabbed the dry fly rod and we took some shots. He hooked a big rainbow on the dry but was a little gun shy about the 5X tippet and the fish came unbuttoned.
After that we moved to the upper river and it was fishing very well. Each pass up there resulted in multiple hook ups with big rainbows and the highlight of the morning was a fat 22″ brown trout and a rainbow that was just a touch bigger.
We grabbed what little shade we could for lunch and then motored back upriver for the afternoon. We started at the top and just made one long drift all the way down to the mid river. Bob caught fish the whole way down, and even got run into his backing at one point by an especially hot rainbow.
When one would come unbuttoned he would just get his flies back in there and it wasn’t long before he was tight again. It was really good fishing, but the heat of the day was also intense.
I knew Bob was ready to call it quits but the fishing was just too silly and he stuck 3 more rainbows back to back to back and then he was satisfied and exhausted. At that point he reeled up and I motored us in.
Land of the Giants
With another hot one on tap we got on the water a little earlier on Wednesday. There was some cloud cover and I knew the dry fly fishing could be good once the bugs started moving so I motored straight to the upper river and we made a long drift with the nymph rod.
Much like yesterday the fishing was solid and Bob stuck a number of big rainbows as we worked our way downriver. He landed two more in the middle river and then we reeled up the nymph rod and switched to a PMD dry fly.
These are tough, technical fish to feed on the dry and then landing these big bows on light 5X tippet is another story. The first riser we saw slid over a few inches and sucked Bob’s dry down. That fish took our fly on the first run, but the good news is we knew we had the right bug.
We spent the rest of the morning dry fly fishing to rising trout. There were some super tough fish that wouldn’t eat anything we threw at them, but we found good success too with a number of dry fly eaters and a couple of big rainbows in the net. It was already very hot by lunch.
We had good shade to take a break, but we decided we didn’t want to take the time to motor to the upper river to nymph so we ran back over to some of the toughest risers and I had Bob dry a short dry/dropper rig. He hooked up after a couple of casts but that fish broke us off.
Then we switched back to the dry and moved downriver to some new water. There weren’t as many rising fish in the high afternoon sun, but we found two groups that were up eating. Our first drift through they didn’t want to play with us so we motored back up and gave it one more shot.
Before we even reached the pod of risers and single fish popped up and started eating on the seam. Bob made a good cast and we watched the fish eat a natural right next to it, and then we were both surprised when the fish turned downstream and chased his fly.
The hook set was good and after a hard fight Bob had one more big dry fly fish in the net. The nymphing has been very good at LOG recently, but it was very rewarding to fish dries most of the day today.
Land of the Giants
Thursday I had local anglers Jim and Eff on the upper Bitterroot. Finally, some cooler weather arrived so we met just a little later to let the bugs get moving some. The guys started with single dries and Eff hooked up right away in the first run, Jim had a couple smaller fish take a swipe and then he hooked a decent fish in some fast water.
The trout were definitely looking up and the guys doubled in a big back eddy just downstream. Then Jim made a tough cast tight to the bank and fooled a good fish that he had to fight around a bunch of downed logs. It was a fat 17″ brown and the best fish of the day.
The morning was fairly consistent and we had a good combination of flies. Eff was fishing a mayfly in the front and picking off trout in the slower water and Jim had a small stone in the back and getting them tight to the banks and in faster water.
After lunch we switched up to a couple of smaller golden stones and some of the best fishing was in the early afternoon. Some good sized cutts and cuttbows were looking up in all of the normal spots. The guys had a couple more doubles and we saw some great eats tight to logs and fast banks.
Then the fishing was strange for a little while. I switched flies and Jim picked off a nice one right away and then we started getting refusals. After another fly change we started finding fish again.
Eff stuck a nice colorful 15″ cutt in the middle of a run, then Jim had a slow motion eat from a solid cuttbow that made some hard runs, and the guys finished up with another double that turned into a rodeo with crossed lines, the boat stuck on a rock, and fish that wouldn’t get in the net. But it all worked out and we landed both of those with the takeout in sight.
The cooler weather was a big help today and we had pretty steady fishing with single dries through most of the day.
Land of the Giants
Friday I was out with local anglers, Jeff and Jim. I had heard reports of spruce moths on the Blackfoot and the guys always love fishing that river so we met early and decided to give it a shot. We started with single dries, one spruce moth and one nocturnal stonefly.
Neither fly received much attention in the first hour other than a couple small ones so we changed up to dry/dropper rigs. Jim started getting some action in the front. It was mostly smaller trout but he hooked a good one that came unbuttoned in some fast water and then connected with a nice 15″ cutthroat.
I tried some different droppers with Jeff but the fish weren’t having it until I put on a stonefly nymph. Then he came tight on a nice rainbow above a rapid and picked up a couple of other trout. We weren’t setting the world on fire with the droppers and by late morning I started to notice a few more spruce moths around so we changed back to single dries.
We had a little window of dry fly fishing. Jim fooled a decent cutthroat in a boulder garden and we had a bunch of smaller fish up on the fly. The moths usually fade out in the afternoon so we tried some different flies after lunch. It was mostly small fish again until Jeff had a fat 15″ cutt roll on his fly in a soft pocket.
Just after that spot we started seeing moths on the water again and made one more fly change. That produced some of our best action of the day. Jim had a big fish come up for the fly and it just didn’t connect and then Jeff tagged a bright 16″ rainbow below that.
A few other decent fish made it to the net and a lot of little ones were after the fly as well. The guys had to fish hard for their chances today and I had to row hard in the low water on the Blackfoot. It wasn’t the best fishing, but we managed to put together a fair day on the water.
Land of the Giants
Streamflows are low for this time of year and we have Hoot Owl fishing restrictions in place on a few sections of river around Missoula. I assume more restrictions will follow in the week ahead. All the hatches have been early so far with spruce moths showing up 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule.
That may give a boost to the Blackfoot, and if the trend continues the fish should start looking for hoppers and ants anytime. Early start times are key for Missoula fishing and we hope the weather forecast is correct with a couple of much cooler days and some rain next week.
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516