Our Missoula fishing guides are chomping at the bit. A below average snowpack has opened up a lot of fishing options that are coming into play right now. Currently we have Salmonflies on lower Rock Creek and the upper Bitterroot which have already produced solid dry fly fishing. The West Fork of the Bitterroot and lower Blackfoot should start to see bugs with the next batch of warm, dry weather. The Missoula area never really blew out completely during run-off as there always seemed to be at least one local option and that’s still true. Last week the Blackfoot gave up a bunch of big fish on streamers and nymphs. Some recent rain bumped that river a little too much, but it will be back to giving up slabs as soon as it clears just a touch. Our options are day to day at this point especially with the wet weather, but that’s something that we love about this time of year. You have to be willing to take some risks during the Salmonfly hatch to find that unbelievable fishing. Hit the front end of the hatch and you’ll have some of the biggest fish of the year looking up for giant bugs with no one else around. Wait too long and you’ll be out there with everyone else trying to tempt the few fish that either aren’t already gorged or haven’t felt the prick of a dry fly yet. You can also go for a hatch too early and find yourself nymphing all day, or just getting a good ol’ ass kicking. It happens this time of year, fortunately not too often, but it certainly happens. The good news is that our conditions are shaping up for a great month of dry fly fishing in June. Salmonflies are awesome, but we will find a little more consistency once the golden stoneflies start to show by mid-June. Add green drakes, caddis, and PMDs by the end of the month and there will be no shortage of dries to throw at our rising trout. For many Missoula fishing guides this is their favorite month of the year. Plenty of water to float in and lots of bugs on the menu is a hard recipe to beat.
