LOG Fishing August 2026

Monday was the first of two days at LOG with long-time angler Jim.  We were off the dock early and had the upper river to ourselves for a little while.  Jim didn’t waste any time with a nice rainbow in the net on our first pass.

And the fish just kept coming on every drift after that.  The interesting thing today was there were a lot of mid-sized and even smaller fish on the hunt.  That made for fast action as Jim would hook 2 or 3 each pass because we could land those fish a little quicker.

There were still some big ones around too and Jim landed some slabs in the morning and had a few other ones get away on us.  In the late morning we moved down to the sunken island and made a couple passes.

We hooked one on the first drift and Jim landed a bright bow on the second pass before we tucked into some shade for lunch.  We went back to the upper river for the afternoon and the first pass after lunch was the only drift we made all day where we didn’t at least hook a fish.

I tweaked the flies after that and Jim tagged a couple smaller ones on the next pass.  Then we switched rods to a big fly followed by a small fly and that was the ticket for finding some of the bigger bows again.

The boulder gardens were the best with that rig as Jim hooked a number of nice fish around the rocks and put some heavy ones in the net.  We made a long drift to finish the day where Jim hooked a couple that came unbuttoned.

By then the heat was starting to build and we decided to call it a day.  We had good action from start to finish with some of those big classic LOG rainbows and a whole pile of mid-sized and smaller trout today.

 

LOG Fishing August 2026

Tuesday I was back out with Jim and we were on the river early for a quiet morning.  At the bottom of our first drift on the upper river Jim tagged an obscenely fat rat rainbow to get the day started.

I realized how spoiled I’ve been lately at LOG because even though Jim picked up a great fish on our first run of the day there was something about it that made me feel the fishing was off.  We made another pass on a different part of the river and didn’t touch a fish.

We switched rods to throw some different flies at them and there wasn’t a surefire strike on that drift either.  So we headed up to the dam and I started making some fly changes.  Fortunately it didn’t take long.

Our first pass up there didn’t produce, but after one more fly change Jim hooked 2 and landed one on the next pass.  It was game on from there as Jim started hooking solid trout in every spot that we fished.

They were almost all bigger fish this morning too. There were a couple of those mid-sized bows in the mix, but there were a lot of fat 19-21″ rainbows on the end of the line and Jim brought most of them to the boat.

We floated down to the sunken island to find shade for lunch and made one drift through there.  Jim hooked a big, bright fish that ran straight across the river into his backing and wrapped the line on 2 different rocks.

We tried to chase with the motor, but there wasn’t anything we could do with that fish.  We went back to the upper river for the afternoon and it was lights out good.  Jim hooked up on his first cast to a big rainbow.

Then I tweaked the flies a little and we made a long drift through all the upper water and Jim picked off 4 or 5 good ones on that drift.  Then it was up to the dam where Jim tagged a couple.  As we floated down into the faster water he had another hot fish that showed him his backing, but this one made it to the net.

In the late afternoon we made another long drift and the fish were fighting so hard that they kept bending the hooks out.  Jim was fighting them with the reel and they were just running so hard that they would eventually open up the hooks on those small flies.

We were gonna let them all go anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.  The day wrapped up down at sunken island.  Jim stuck a heavy fish at the top of that run.  Fortunately it didn’t make a blistering run because I was worried about the hooks.

Jim did a great job fighting that fish and finished up his trip with a gorgeous 22″ rainbow in the net.  We had about a 45 minute in the morning where the fishing was a little funky, otherwise it was another outstanding day at LOG with a bunch of great fish in the net.

Jim had two great days on the water and I look forward to seeing him again next spring for the Skwala hatch in Missoula.

LOG Fishing August 2026

Wednesday was the first of 3 days with returning angler Alan.  We had fished around Missoula together before, but this was Alan’s first trip to LOG.  He received a mixed reception today as it was already a little windy at the marina in the morning.

My plan was to fish most of the river with him since it was his first trip, but we had to scrap that because it was too windy and headed to the upper river.  Despite the wind Alan connected with a decent rainbow on his first pass, and on his next drift he stuck a good one that put up a big fight.

When that rainbow hit the net he declared it was his personal best rainbow ever.  So we were off to a good start, but the wind was some of the worst I have seen this season.  It was blowing upriver so hard that it would stop my boat in its tracks.

I was standing up and pushing downriver as hard as I could and the boat would barely move.  Alan made it work though, as a single he was able to cast back up every time the flies got below the boat so he was able to pull off some good drifts even in the horrible conditions.

And the trout were very grabby this morning.  Alan hooked up on every pass and there were several where he tagged multiple fish.  It was mostly bigger bows and we netted several slabs up to 22″, and of course there were some brutes that we just couldn’t do anything about.

Alan saw his backing twice and we had several fish get away in the rocks or just come unbuttoned with so much line out.  It was so windy that we only made one long drift down through the slower water, and I had to start the motor and put it in reverse to help pull us downstream.

Even with the motor running Alan was able to score on a nice rainbow.  We did a couple more laps in the fast water after that and finished the morning with another gorgeous rainbow.  I was hoping that the wind would let up in the afternoon, but that didn’t happen.

We went back to the upper river and attempted two more drifts.  With the wind blowing even harder I couldn’t control the boat at all and Alan could barely cast let alone get a drift.  We decided to try to find some shelter out on the lake.  It was a bumpy ride in the north wind, but we set up on some weed beds to start.

The anchor wouldn’t hold in the wind and the trolling motor couldn’t keep the boat in position very well.  Alan did hook up in that first spot, but the fish ran him into the weeds and got away.

After that I motored across the lake to find a more protected spot.  It was still windy but I could hold position.  The only problem was the trout didn’t seem to care.  We fished a few different bugs in that spot and had maybe one take.

The wind continued to increase and Alan decided to call it a day a little early since the morning had been so good.  The wind was ferocious today, but Alan stuck with it and put some great fish in the net.

LOG Fishing August 2026

Thursday Alan and I were greeted with cooler temps, cloud cover, and wind to start the day.  It wasn’t as windy as yesterday, but it was still challenging early.  We were well trained with how to deal with the wind from yesterday and Alan hooked up in the middle of our first drift.

The trout weren’t feeding quite as hard as yesterday, but our landing percentage was way up today.  As a result, Alan was putting a nice rainbow or two in the net on every pass.  After the first hour the wind did let up for us and we were able to get all the way up to the dam.

That’s where the first big one came for Alan.  It was a thick hen that went 21″.  He tagged a couple more up by the dam and then we focused on the faster water for a while with some very pretty rainbows on the line.

And when the wind let up we were able to make some longer drifts down into the slower water.  Alan connected with solid bows every time we floated through there.  We slid down to the sunken island for lunch and Alan landed a pair of hot fish on one pass through there.

We spent most of the afternoon down at sunken island.  It was calm and there was no one else around.  We made one run with a short leash rod and Alan tagged a fat rainbow tight to the bank.  Then we switched back to the deeper rod and Alan had a hay day in there.

He hooked a bunch of big fish as that run produced a trout or two on each run.  There were a couple smaller ones mixed in, including our only brown trout of the day, but it was a healthy dose of super charged 18+” rainbows with several 20″ or better and the biggest at 22.5″.

Late in the afternoon the wind picked up again so we went back to the upper river.  Alan stuck a nice bow on our first pass and had one get away from us on our second drift up there.  At that point the wind was problematic again so we made one more drift through the sunken island before heading in for the day.

It was a fantastic day of fishing for Alan.  We had a few get away from us which is normal for LOG, but he put a bunch of big fish in the net today.

LOG Fishing August 2026

Friday was the last day with Alan and he was finally able to enjoy a flat calm ride across the lake this morning.  We were the first ones up the river and I heard the sirens at the dam go off just as we were getting situated for fishing.

When the flows bump up it can put the fish off for a while so I was interested to see what would happen.  We hooked fish on the first two passes, but they both came unbuttoned and the fishing felt a little off so we switched to a different rod with a new set up.

At the top of the next drift Alan came tight on a serious fish.  I could tell by the head shakes that it was a big one and then got visual confirmation a few moments later.  Alan did a great job with that fish and slid him into the net.

The only problem was we were directly above a big rock and I had to get on the oars to keep the boat from hitting it.  I can usually tuck the net under my knee with a fish in the basket and row the boat, but this rainbow was so big that he flopped once and was back in the river.

I would guess that fish at 22-23″, super fat and close to 5 pounds.  I was bummed that Alan landed it, but we couldn’t get a photo.  We hooked another on the next pass and I found out what I need to know to dial in the right set up.

From there we were on the trout the rest of the morning.  They proved challenging to land though with a lot of big fish eating and then pulling out all of their tricks during the fight.  We went back down to the sunken island around lunch to check on that run.

Alan landed a nice rainbow down there, but the water was full of drifting grass with the water level coming up.  Since that run was too grassy it was back to the upper river for the afternoon.  The second session started similar to the morning with 2 fish hooked that came unbuttoned on us.

Then we went up to the dam and things got better.  The trout were loaded up there as Alan hooked up on almost every pass, and we started landing most of them.  We spent over an hour up there as it was just too good to leave.  Alan landed 8 or 9 nice rainbows.

It was mostly the midsized trout with a couple bigger ones mixed in.  At that point everyone had cleared out of the upper river and we made a drift in the faster water.  Alan came tight to another heavy fish and he survived the first few head shakes before the trout shot upriver.

We gave chase with the motor so the fish couldn’t get around any rocks on us.  It was a good battle before he slid a 22.5″ male in the net.  It was another fat fish well over 4.5 pounds and had two separate fly rigs in it that had been broken off.

We cleared all the excess jewelry off that big guy and let him go.  We had time for one more pass through the fast water and Alan finished the trip strong with another slab rainbow that was 22″.

Despite challenging weather for most of the trip Alan had really solid fishing.  He landed big rainbows every day and we had a great time on the water together.

LOG Fishing August 2026

It was a pretty incredible month at the Land of the Giants on the Mo.  Hot and dry to start and finished up cool, wet, and windy.

Through it all we had good to excellent fishing everyday with some massive rainbows and impressive brown trout.

Now it is time to turn my attention back to Missoula for the fall push.  The cooler weather has been a blessing for our rivers.

Hoot Owl fishing restrictions have been lifted for most everything in western Montana as water temps are closer to the ideal range.

I’m looking forward to catching some fish on hoppers and ants and seeing our fall hatches start soon.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516