Monday I was back out with Grizzly Riders, Bill and Mike. Bill likes to fish the reclaimed section of the upper Clark Fork where Milltown Dam used to be and today was a good day to give that section a shot.
We started out with dry/dropper rigs and Mike scored with a hot rainbow on the dropper in the very first bucket. The next bank produced a quality cuttbow for Bill and we were off to the races. The fishing was very steady during the morning, but it wasn’t all big fish. There were a bunch of 8-12″ bows and cuttbows on the hunt.
The guys would tag those smaller guys in the shallower water and then the deep spots usually gave up a decent fish. Once we got down into the reclaimed portion of the river we switched to bigger droppers for the fast water and Mike immediately connected with another quality bow.
The fast pocket water was good to us in the morning and right away again after lunch but then it tightened up a little. We started switching droppers and found a couple mayflies the fish wanted to eat.
Toward the end of that fast water the guys doubled up as Bill landed another thick hard fighting bow. We picked up a few more smaller ones before the confluence with the Blackfoot and then we switched to single dries to finish the day.
The water below the confluence hasn’t been the best and today was no exception. Mike fooled a small rainbow on an ant pattern and Bill had one slap at his hopper.
I spent almost the whole day up above the confluence because I expected it to drop off below, and we had a good day of fishing with trout of all sizes and a handful of quality rainbows in the net.
Mike got us started with a great rainbow right out of the gate – Fall Fly Fishing
Bill hooked up in the morning – Fall Fly Fishing
A decent number of mid-sized rainbows today on the dropper – Fall Fly Fishing
A decent number of mid-sized rainbows today on the dropper – Fall Fly Fishing
Blue bird conditions on the upper Clark Fork – Fall Fly Fishing
Mike with a colorful rainbow in a deep run – Fall Fly Fishing
Fall Fly Fishing
Tuesday was my last day with Bill, and today he was joined by Suzanne for a float through the canyon on the Blackfoot. This was only Suzanne’s second time ever fly fishing so we did a quick review at the put in and then started working on the basics in the first couple of runs. It was cold in the morning so there wasn’t a whole lot happening first thing.
Once we made it through a few runs Bill picked up a couple of smaller ones on the dropper and Suzanne had some strikes as she worked on her hook set. When we made it into Munchmore I had Suzanne start off. She had several strikes at the edge of the foam and then came tight on a solid fish.
She did well playing that fish and was rewarded with a nice 15″ cutthroat. It only took Bill a couple casts to find a cutthroat for himself and then Suzanne tagged one more small one before we moved downstream.
The dropper fishing was a little spotty, but then the trico spinner fall hit the water and there were rising fish in most of the runs. Bill fooled a big cutthroat on a small dry but the hook just didn’t stick. I rigged Suzanne up with a double dry rig and she had lots of eats on the dries.
The smaller fish proved tough to hook, but she did connect with a pair of big cutts on dries through the canyon. Bill found a few smaller trout on a dropper from the back seat. While we had lunch some cloud cover moved in and I expected the afternoon to be good with hoppers and ants.
The ant fooled a few down through cutthroat alley, but the trout definitely weren’t looking up like I expected. We switched back to dry/dropper rigs and the next run produced a big rainbow for Suzanne.
We could see the fish through the whole fight in the clear water. It made one more hard run when it was close to the boat and broke us off. Sorry to lose him, but that can happen with 5X and little flies. The rest of the afternoon was small trout here and there on the dropper with a couple on the big dry.
The fishing was off for some reason. We were the first boat down and with the cloud cover I expected them to be more aggressive, but Bill and Suzanne had to work for them most of the day. We put a handful of nice ones in the net and a bunch of smaller ones on a pretty float through the canyon.
Suzanne working the Munchmore hole – Fall Fly Fishing
Tight to a good fish – Fall Fly Fishing
First fish of the day was a good one for Suzanne – Fall Fly Fishing
She found a bigger cutt on a dry fly down in the canyon – Fall Fly Fishing
Fall Fly Fishing
After a couple mornings of chasing grouse in the mountains with the dogs, I was back on the water Friday with local angler, Herb. We met a little later and launched on the upper Bitterroot hoping to fish single dries all day.
It was still a little chilly when we launched and due to that the trout weren’t very active early on. Herb moved some fish, but they were all small cutts and cuttbows. We switched flies a few times in the morning trying to find something that the bigger trout would move for.
Everything we tried caught a fish or two, but they remained on the small side. We even resorted to throwing a dropper in a few spots. The dropper worked, but again it was the small guys that were on the hunt.
We stopped for lunch hoping that as the day warmed and progressed some better fish would start to feed. The next few runs after lunch all produced small fish and I kept changing flies looking for the answer. Finally an inside bend produced two nice cutthroat that came up for a hopper.
The hook didn’t stick on the first one and Herb came tight to the second one briefly. I was relieved to finally see a couple quality trout willing to eat. The next run below that produced a fat cutthroat on the current edge and then Herb added another one that came from the reverse current.
It was good to put a couple healthy ones in the net, but it wasn’t like a light switch flipping today. We still had to work for our chances the rest of the way. I tired a couple other hoppers and everything produced some strikes, but it was still mostly smaller fish and the bigger ones didn’t seem super confident when they came to the fly.
I changed back to our best hopper to finish the day and Herb stuck one more nice cutthroat just above the take out. It was a gorgeous weather day and there wasn’t any traffic on the water. The trout were just a little off today. Herb put a handful on nice ones in the net and bunch of smaller cutts and cuttbows.
Beautiful but chilly morning on the Bitterroot – Fall Fly FishingBoat dog Gracie kept a close eye on Herb and I today – Fall Fly Fishing
Hooked up to a decent fish – Fall Fly Fishing
A small hopper produced our best fish today – Fall Fly Fishing
Solitude on the Bitterroot – Fall Fly Fishing
Fall Fly Fishing
We are moving further into fall fishing. As the nights get longer and colder our best window of opportunity will switch from early morning to later in the day.
Hoppers, ants, and tricos are all on the menu. On cloudy days we should start to see mahogany duns and hecubas in the mix as well.
Brown trout will start moving around in their pre spawn activity and our bigger rainbows and cutts will start feeding more as they feel winter approaching.
Fall is one of our favorites and we look forward to the fishing in the weeks ahead.
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters 406-544-3516
