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Missoula Fishing July 2026

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Tuesday I fished with local angler Jim.  Since our first pike day of the season wasn’t very productive with cold temps and high water, we decided to give it another shot today on the Clark Fork.

It was cloudy with a slight drizzle to start which made seeing the fish a little difficult, but the first spot produced 2 eats and 1 decent pike in the net.

That fish wrapped around some underwater logs which made landing him a little interesting, but Jim made all the right moves and we were able to get that fish in the boat.

The next spot produced a smaller pike and then we had a dry spell through the next few spots as the water level is still a little high for their normal haunts.

At that point we found a few fish rising to PMDs so I gave Jim the dry fly rod and he picked off a rainbow after a couple of casts.  Then we moved past the risers to a back eddy with the streamer rod.

Jim had a follow near a big log and after another cast a decent pike shot out and drilled the fly.  The only problem was the fish was right next to a tangled mess of downed tree limbs and an old car frame in the water.

That fish knew exactly what to do and within a few seconds it was completely wrapped up in there.  The fish stayed hooked but I couldn’t free the leader.  Eventually I cut the leader at the fly line and kept a hold of it while trying to free the fish with the net.

It was a complete rodeo that took several minutes.  I was wet up to both shoulders and about to give up hope when something finally happened and I was able to scoop the fish in the net.  That was a memorable fish.

We stopped for lunch after that and in the afternoon we didn’t move a fish in one of my favorite pike spots so we were down to the last slough.  We worked that hard and Jim had a couple follows from fish that just wouldn’t commit.

Toward the end of the slough we finally convinced one more to eat to cap off the day.  The cloud cover made visibility tougher, but we still managed to have a decent day chasing pike and put a few nice ones in the net.

 

 

 

 

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Wednesday was the start of my summer Land of the Giants season in the jet boat.  Today I had Mark and Tim in the boat who are in the middle of a two week fishing road trip.

We had good cloud cover in the morning and the trout were grabby right out of the gate.  We spent the morning on the upper river and stuck a fish or two on every pass.

Mark saw his backing on the first two big rainbows he connected with and Tim had the big fish of the morning at 22″.  The guys also had a few doubles as the fishing was very consistent early.

After lunch we slid down to the sunken island and the first fish of the afternoon was a 23″ brown for Mark.  It was steady action in there with a couple more doubles, but the rainbows weren’t quite as big as the upper river so we motored back up to finish off the day.

We made a couple more passes up there with hot fish on the line each drift and the guys finished it off with one more double.

It was steady from start to finish with a lot of healthy rainbows in the 17-21″ range and a few bigger ones.

 

 

 

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Thursday was the first of 3 days with long-time angler, Chris, at Land of the Giants.  The marina was a little crazy in the morning, but I had rods already rigged so once we got out of there we went straight to the upper river and started fishing.

It was on right away.  A couple casts into the day and Chris connected with a solid brown trout to get us going.  From there it was a steady stream of nice rainbows with a fish or two coming on each drift.  It was steady, quality fishing.

At the end of the morning we dropped down to the sunken island run which is a nemesis for Chris.  He’s caught plenty of fish there, but every year he hooks something huge in that run and it gets away.  Today was no different.

Both before and after lunch Chris picked up a couple fish in there, but he hooked two stud fish and both of them made hard charging runs and got off in the submerged rocks.

He will settle the score in there one day, but after that we went back to the upper river where the fishing was just as good as in the morning.

There were some big fish on the prowl too, and Chris landed a pair of bright 22″ rainbows in the afternoon.  Today was great fishing from start to finish as Chris put a pile of nice trout in the net.

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Friday Chris and I hoped to find some rising fish in the morning so we started out in the middle river.  We made a long drift with the nymph rod while I looked for bugs and risers.

Chris picked off a rainbow on that pass, but there weren’t any fish looking up and there were several other boats around so we headed upriver after that.

Fishing up there was solid and Chris was hooked up on his second cast up there.  Every drift produced solid fish on the line with several nice ones in the net.

We made it all the way up to the dam today and that run fished especially well.  Chris put some great trout in the net in the morning including a fat 22″ bow just before lunch, but we hooked a few other monsters that got the best of us.

The afternoon started slow.  The morning had been cloudy, but the sun was out bright and we made a drift at sunken island and up top without a hook up.  I adjusted the rig a little and that seemed to help.

The only issue was those trout proved hard to land in the afternoon.  Every time is was a different issue, but Chris would hook them and fight them and they would get away before coming to the boat.

It was a little frustrating for sure, but we kept at it and turned things around late in the afternoon with a couple more big rainbows in the net.

We didn’t find the rising fish we were hoping for, but there was still plenty of action most of the day today.

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Saturday Chris and I were out early again at LOG.  Despite the weekend it was relatively quiet up there, and we pretty much had the upper river to ourselves for most of the morning.  And the trout were in a good mood today.

It was ridiculously good fishing with several hook ups on every pass.  The average size fish is big at LOG, but today it seemed like the jumbo trout were on the feed.

We got schooled by a few of those giants, but Chris got the best of a bunch of them and put some super thick 20-22″ rainbows in the net during the morning.

We actually stopped for lunch early because Chris needed to give his arm a break since it was cramping up from fighting so many fish.

First thing in the afternoon we checked out a spot for rising fish and found 3 looking up.  We made a couple passes on those fish, but they weren’t super consistent and proved a little tough in the bright sun.

After that we headed back upriver and the fishing picked up right where we left off.  Chris was tight to big rainbows on every pass and you just couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.  The best fish of the trip came toward the end of the day.

It was a slab 23″ bow that Chris had to fight through a bunch of submerged boulders to get into the net.  Everything after that was just gravy.

We made a couple more passes and pulled on a few more healthy bows before calling it a day.  It was a fantastic 3 days with Chris on the water and he is already planning his next trip out.

Missoula Fishing July 2026

Land of the Giants is fishing very well at the moment with cold water temps and good bug hatches.

The guide crew had a solid week on the Missoula area rivers too.  The upper and middle Bitterroot, Blackfoot, and upper Clark Fork all produced good fishing with a decent amount of dry fly action.

We have been meeting early to stay out of the hot afternoon temps, but water levels are hanging in there and the trout are still happy.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516