Missoula Trout Fishing
Missoula Trout Fishing – Monday was the second day out with Bill and Joan and I decided to show them a new piece of water on the upper Clark Fork. We started off with Joan throwing a single dry and Bill fishing a dry/dropper.
The trout were looking up early as the dry was getting a lot more action than the dropper. The fish were eating a golden stone, and well enough that I put Bill on a single dry as well.
Once we hit the mouth of Rock Creek I went back to the dropper for Bill and it starting producing well until we stopped for lunch. In the afternoon Joan was on the fence about fishing a dropper and decided to stay with the single dry.
I’m glad she did as it didn’t take long to prove the trout wanted to eat on the surface. She picked up a few right away and I quickly got Bill switched over. The first couple hours after lunch was very good dry fly fishing with trout looking up in most all of the likely spots.
Then it tapered a bit and we made a fly change for the final part of the day and got back on the fish. There were a number of doubles today and action from start to finish. It was mostly 12-14” trout with a handful of nicer ones pushing the 17” mark.
Lots of rainbows and cuts with some brown trout in the mix as well. Bill and Joan really enjoyed the new piece of water and were especially happy to fish big dries for 2 days in Missoula this June.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Tuesday I was out with local angler, Bob, and despite the bright sun we decided to hit the Blackfoot before it cleared up too much. Bob loves throwing streamers so that is what we started with and there were some nice trout on the hunt right out of the gate.
It started with a couple of fat 17″ cuttbows and got better from there with a 19″ bull trout, a bright 20″ rainbow, and then a 20.5″ brown trout. Almost every good spot was producing a violent take from a solid trout.
That flurry lasted about an hour and a half and then started to fade. Eventually, it was just smaller trout on the dropper and so we changed to single dries as there were still plenty of salmonflies around.
It was mostly little guys on the dry so we added a dropper to the rig and that was the ticket. The rest of the day was steady action from mostly 14-16″ cutts and cuttbows. Considering the sun and heat, the Blackfoot fished much better than I expected it to today.
The morning streamer session was memorable, followed by plenty of action on the dropper in the afternoon.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Wednesday Bob and I ventured to the upper Clark Fork early. I started him off with a single dry and he banged a nice 15″ brown trout in the first run. There wasn’t quite as much action on the upper water as earlier in the week, but the quality was good.
By the time we made it to Rock Creek we had a handful of nice rainbows, cutts, and browns in the net. We took a stab at dropper fishing and while Bob picked up two bows on the nymph, he had more eats on the big dry so we decided to just stick with the single dry for the rest of the day.
By then some cloud cover had rolled in and the fishing was consistent all day. Some of the better runs would produce 3 or 4 solid eats and in the afternoon nearly every good looking piece of water produced at least one fish.
No big ones today, but lots and lots of action from 12-15″ rainbows, cutts, and browns with a few bigger specimens mixed in. We fished a single dry fly almost all day and had the river to ourselves. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Thursday I fished with local angler, Jim, on a familiar stretch of the upper Bitterroot. We started the day with a dry/dropper rig and the first 3 or 4 fish came up aggressively on the dry so we switched over to the single dry.
That may have been a little early but after going back to a different dropper Jim was hooked up again right away. The balance of the morning went in streaks. We would stick 2 or 3 and then go a spot or two with nothing.
We stayed with the dropper after lunch and it was moving fish in the likely spots and then the bugs started coming off just before 1:00. Once Jim picked off a couple of solid cutts on the big dry we switched over to single dry and never looked back.
The next 2 hours was very consistent on top with quality fish looking up in every run. The wind started to blow hard for the last hour which made things a little challenging, but the action was still consistent.
It was mostly smaller fish in the morning, but once the bugs started hatching there were plenty of 14-16″ cutts and cuttbows willing to come up for a dry fly.
Jim found a handful pushing 17″ and a few brown trout too. The main Bitterroot is just starting to get fish and should only improve in the coming days.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Friday I was back out with Bob and we decided to venture way down on the lower Clark Fork. There was some cloud cover early and that helped bring a few fish up for the big dry fly while we picked off others on the dropper too.
I changed droppers a few times early on as each bug seemed to produce a fish or two but nothing consistent. I don’t know if it was the fly change or the fact that I realized the trout were only feeding in faster, summer type water but as soon as we focused on that type of water Bob was hooked up non-stop.
All of the fast riffles, seams, pocket water, and heavy back eddies were automatic for a cutthroat or rainbow on the dropper. We fooled a few in some slower water, but the fast stuff was key today.
The cloud cover only lasted for about an hour or so and that put a damper on the dry fly action the rest of the day. Bob had a handful of fish up on the surface, but the dropper action kept him busy.
The best bank produced 9 fish and once we realized the type of water they liked, Bob would try to shake off the smaller ones so he could get his fly back in the spot before we missed anymore good water.
The trout on the Clark Fork are fighting incredibly hard right now too. It was mostly 12-15″ cutts, cuttbows, and rainbows today with a few up to 17″ and even the smaller guys were a handful to bring to the boat.
Bob landed the last nice cutthroat with the take out in sight so he clipped off the flies and we headed for the ramp. Another great day on the river.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Saturday was the first of 2 days with my L.A. ladies, Penny and Dianne. They were on the lower Clark yesterday with Scott and had a good day. This morning we left early for a long float on the upper Bitterroot.
We started the day fishing dry/dropper rigs and the dropper fishing was silly good in the morning. There were a few fish on the big dry too, but every spot was producing well with the dropper.
It was a lot of smaller cutts and cuttbows, but both Dianne and Penny tagged some bigger cutts in the 16-17″ range in the morning. The ladies had at least 4 doubles and lots of action all morning.
We started to get some bugs in the afternoon and switched over to a single dry. The fish were looking up, but the dry fly fishing was a little more challenging to get the fly in the right spots in faster flows.
We had a lot of fun watching nice fish come up in that crystal clear water. Dianne connected with a nice brook trout on the dry which is rare for the main river and there were several other healthy cutts and cuttbows that hit the net on the dry fly.
Dianne closed out the day with one final cuttbow right as we pulled into the take out.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Sunday we decided to roll the dice on the Blackfoot. Penny and Dianne love that river and the flows were still good enough to show them a new stretch of water. We launched early and fished big salmofly dries in the shade.
We might have been a little too early as only little dinks were coming up for the big dry out of the gate. We picked off a few smaller fish and changed bugs a few times, and then after an hour or so there were some good fish looking up.
Dianne picked off a pair of fat 17″ cuttbows that smashed the big bug. It’s always exciting to see them come up but I wanted a little more action so we added a dropper to the mix. That helped to pick up a few more fish.
The stretch of the Blackfoot today is a lot of fast pocket water. It is a lot of work for the anglers, but exciting when a fish comes out to blast the fly. We continued to get a fair amount of action all day from smaller and mid-sized rainbows and cutts.
In the afternoon we had occasional cloud cover and some bigger fish came out to play. A few ate the big dry and the others on the dropper made some blistering runs upstream.
Not far above the take out, Penny added another fat 17″ cuttbow to the net to finish off a good day on the Blackfoot. The ladies had a solid 3 days this trip and fished the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot with good results each day.
Missoula Trout Fishing
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
