Western Montana Fishing Report

Ancient alien monolith near St. Regis

I've been out and about all week and here is the report of what is going on.  The next couple of weeks are going to be the last chance to fish the big rivers for a while.  Once runoff gets going this year, it's going to be especially crazy for some time.

Bitterroot River:
The Root is in full recovery with the flows leveling out and the water clearing.  Today is going to be sunny with some wind.  I'd expect the best fishing will still be with be nymphs or with dry/droppers.  If you do start to see surface feeding and the trout are ignoring your big foam skwala, put on a Goddard caddis for the numora.  Things could get really good on the Root later this week with some clouds.  Hopefully, it wont rain too hard and the river won't get huge again.

Blackfoot River:
I still have yet to fish the Blackfoot this year.  I drove alongside it two days ago and it looked to be shaping back up after the last push of water.  If everything stays stable, the Blackfoot may wake up, for real, in the next couple of days.  You may see an afternoon March brown hatch but a double nymph rig (turd and worm) is the safe play.

Rock Creek:
Rock Creek fished pretty well right through that last push.  Wading safely was more of a concern than anything.  Now that it's on the drop, I'd head that way if I wanted a safe bet on catching some great trout.  At this time of year, especially in the lower reaches, once you find one, keep fishing the same spot because there are probably 10 more right there.  I would also expect some action on top here in the middle of the day. Skwalas and march browns were hatching strong during that higher flow and I'm sure the trout are ready to munch them now.  If my life depended on catching a lot of great trout today, I'd go to Rock Creek.

Clark Fork River (above Deer Lodge):
The release out of the ponds is over.  The flow is right back at the historical mean.  This is also another good fishing option for the next couple of days.  Nymphing and streamers should be productive but keep an eye out for sneaky rise forms in the foam lines.  A very small red/orange wooly bugger can be the bee's knees up here in the spring.

Clark Fork River (below Missoula):
I did a great float yesterday with a former and well known Clark Fork fishing guide and his friend yesterday.  It was a day in the classroom for me.  I love chances to fish with people that are worlds better at fishing than me. Just like with any skilled craft or art, fishing with folks that are better than you is the best way to learn and get better.  The Clark Fork is on the drop overall although, there was a small bump yesterday.  The water has still got a bit of color, but is shaping up.  There was a solid march brown/grey drake hatch in the afternoon but it went mostly unnoticed by the trout.  We were hoping to hit the flying skwala hatch but we didn't even see one big bug.  The hatch must be right on the cusp though because the hot fly was the rubberleggs.  It out-fished the worm so....  During the hatch, the fish were higher up in the water culumn and the dry/dropper rig with a rubberleggs or p-tail/hare's ear dropper worked good.  Most of my fish were caught when the dropper was getting dragged.  I suspect that swinging a size 16-12 soft hackle in some swirlies could be tons-o-fun.  Then, later in the day, the deeper nymph was more effective. 

Area Lakes and Ponds:  
Beavertail is fishing great.  Bring a box of buggers and get to it.  In the next couple of weeks, there will be hatches of really large chrironomids.  They are about a size 16.  The fish target the huge nymphs right as they are hatching. All of the fish are brood stockers and have live thier entire lives in a tank so don't think to hard.  I just grease a hare's ear and give it micro wiggle in the film.  One fun thing that happens at the pond is when there are large flying skwala hatches on the Clark Fork which is just across the highway.  A handfull of the skwalas actually fly over and oviposit in the pond.

Harpers Lake is also fishing great for brood stockers.  They are a bit more picky here than at Beavertail.  I think that the only logical reason for this is that the water is crystal clear and they can see better.  A brown wooly bugger has been the key here.  You'll want to have a boat for fly fishing although, it is not absolutely crucial.  These fish will also eat on top but they are stupid fish so don't over-think it.  I was eating sunflower seeds and spitting the seed shucks in the water.  The huge brood stockers were eating them off the surface.  I guess they look like hatchery pellets.

Browns Lake is currently having some access issues.  The majority of the shoreline (especially where people like to fish on the eastern banks) is private.  I guess the landowners are now enforcing their no trespass rights.  Stream acsess does not apply to lakes, so don't go here if you don't have a boat.