Missoula Flyfishing 2022
Monday was the first of 2 days with returning anglers, Jim and Doug. We met early and headed up to the Blackfoot. It was slow early as the dropper fishing didn’t produce much. We made the change to dry flies and started moving a few smaller trout.
As the morning progressed the fishing continued to improve and the fish were really looking up by the bottom of the canyon. Doug and Jim had 3 consecutive doubles in the cutthroat alley as the fishing remained strong until we stopped in the shade for lunch. The trout were still eating first thing in the afternoon although it was a smaller class of fish as the day heated up.
We went back to the dropper once the dry fly game dried up and put a few more in the net at the end of the day. Quality fishing with plenty of 12-16″ cutts and cuttbows today. Day 2 the guys wanted to see something different so we ventured to the upper Bitterroot. In the morning the dinks were on the prowl.
The guys tagged a bunch of small fish on a variety of different dries. 6-10″ cutts and cuttbows were happy to eat just about any dry fly we tried. There were plenty of bugs around but the bigger fish just weren’t looking up with only a couple decent fish on the dry.
Late morning we started playing around with different droppers and a stonefly nymph was the ticket for some better fish as Doug stuck a couple and landed a nice 14″ cutt. Jim put the same fly to good use with a handful of better fish and a big one that ended up breaking us off in the rocks.
Later in the day we went back to the dry fly and raised some decent trout. Fishing was definitely “off” for the upper Bitterroot today as the guys had to work hard for their chances. I always enjoy having Jim and Doug in the boat and look forward to seeing them again next year.
Missoula Flyfishing 2022
Wednesday was the start of 2 days with longtime anglers, Bob and Leon. These guys love the Blackfoot so we left town in the dark for a float through the canyon. Again today the early dropper fishing was lackluster with a lone cutthroat for Leon in the first several runs and then Bob picked one up in Munchmore on the dropper.
I kept switching up droppers for Leon and put Bob on a dry fly. Leon connected with a hard fighting 17″ cuttbow in fast water and below that we noticed a few spruce moths over the water. There weren’t many moths but when I saw a nice cutthroat eat a natural in a slower run I quickly switched both guys over to moth patterns.
The fishing was on from there. The guys tagged 3 nice cutts out of that run and then doubled up 3 times at the mouth of the canyon. All of the good runs had a least one quality fish looking up and we put a few other doubles in the net too. Coming out of the canyon the fish were still looking up but they wanted a bigger fly instead of the moth as we had steady action up to lunch. Similar to the other day, we had decent action right away in the afternoon and then it started to fade as the day warmed up.
With spruce moths around we went right back up to the canyon for day 2. The dropper fishing only yielded a couple trout, but the bugs came earlier today and the guys were able to fish spruce moths in Munchmore landing a handful of quality cutts. We fished single spruce moth dries the rest of the way through the canyon and had steady action from nice fish.
There were some awesome, slow dry fly eats today. The quality of trout was great too, with mostly 14-17″ cutts and cuttbows eating the dry. We picked up a few in cutthroat alley before switching to hoppers below the canyon. The hopper action was very good all the way to lunch with multiple fish coming up for the big dry in each run.
The script remained the same for the afternoon as the fishing faded once it warmed up. It is hard to beat spruce moth fishing in the canyon this time of year and I’m glad that Bob and Leon had 2 solid days.
Missoula Flyfishing 2022
Friday was my first day of the season with local angler, Herb. We loaded up his yellow lab, Gracie for a float on the upper Bitterroot. For the first hour or so we just enjoyed the river as Herb finished his coffee and cigar as we coasted downstream.
The first run we fished Herb connected with a decent cutt on a mayfly dry. After we completed an unexpected portage around a newly fallen tree we were back to fishing and a pattern quickly developed. Small fish would eat the fly while the quality trout would just give us a look. I changed flies a fair bit but never cracked the code. Every 2 or 3 runs Herb would stick a decent fish and in between small guys would peck at it.
The afternoon didn’t see a whole lot of improvement. We had our best success going back to a mayfly dry and that pattern moved fish a little more consistently, but overall it was still slow fishing. Toward the end of the float it was getting so hot that Gracie was heating up fast even with multiple swims in the river.
At that point we pushed to the take out. It was a pretty day on the Bitterroot, but the trout certainly were not in a good mood. It’s always a treat to float with Herb though, we told lots of stories and tangled with the occasional trout.
Missoula Flyfishing 2022
Sunday was a pike trip on the Clark Fork with long-time angler, Mark and his wife Maryke. This pike trip was supposed to happen a couple weeks ago but Mark had to cancel, and today was scheduled to be a carp day on the Missouri but my jet boat is still being worked on.
So we decided to give pike a shot today and met early to avoid the 100 degree heat in the afternoon. The first couple of spots didn’t yield even a follow from a fish so we switched things up and threw the trout rod for a bit. We had a handful eat the dry but they proved tough to hook.
I changed to a dry/dropper rig for a big foam back eddy and Mark hooked 3 in there but they all came unbuttoned before hitting the net. Then it was back to pike fishing and the next 2 spots were slightly better. We had a number of follows on the fly but they just wouldn’t commit.
We grabbed the last of the shade for lunch and hoped to rally after that. We worked a big slough to finish off the day. I spotted a number of pike suspended off the bottom and Mark had several more follows. We switched flies several times and had 2 eats in that spot but never came tight to fish.
It is an extremely rare event, but we didn’t land a fish today. Only the third time in my career, and I told Mark I couldn’t think of a nicer guy to be with when getting skunked! Mark had a good time today and Maryke always enjoys floating on the Clark Fork. Plans are already in the works to check pike off Mark’s list next season.
Missoula Flyfishing 2022
It was a very hot week around Missoula. Meeting early has been key and the Blackfoot is holding up well. Temps back in the 80’s starting Tuesday and that should help with the fishing.
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Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
