Sedges have edges

Photo of traveling sedge

The annual and usually predictable traveling sedge hatch on Georgetown Lake, Montana has been anemic this year, to say the least.  After 3 weeks of heartbreak, I think it's time to move on the some of the year's best carping.

To be fair, the fishing is still good up at the lake.  There are daily spinnerfalls of callibaetis and the damsels get going around noon.  The fish will eat a damselfly nymph slow stripped or fished below a dry or bobber.  The sight fishing on sunny days in the shallow flats has been really fun and many of these fish are eating dries as well as your perfectly cast damsel nymph or small leech.  I did see the sedges.  Each day I saw more and more.  Right at dusk, you will see quite a few and if you've never seen the hatch at full bore, you might think it looks ok.  But, it's not.  There should be more bugs, the fish should be so keyed in on them that they eat the dry all day, and it should definitely be going strong by now.  The lake has been full and we had a nice normal wet spring.  Maybe it's still coming; I don't know.

Anyway, it's hot in Montana and so is the fishing.  It's also prime time for giving the trout a break from the summer crowds and exploring all over Montana's carp country.

Mish mosh SW Montana fishing report - Late June

Carp flies now sold at Sportsman's Warehouse in Helena 

The huge variety of fishing options in Southwest Montana makes it much harder to write coherent fishing reports like I could do in Missoula.  I write reports every once in a while so that there is a non-biased, transaction-free source of information out there for anyone who cares.  I also use this blog as a personal fishing log which comes in handy sometimes for my own pursuits.  So here it is:

Big Hole River:
It was huge and the salmonflies have come and gone.  Usually, the fishing sucks for a couple weeks after the hatch.  It's called the "salmonfly hangover" and it can really suck.  I avoided the party this year due to my trip to Florida and the shitty conditions.  The river is dropping in nicely now and summer on the Big Hole should be the best it has been in years.  It would be awesome to be able to fish hoppers in the afternoon this year!

Upper Clark Fork:
As the river drops and clears, the caddis fishing will get insane.  The Upper is a caddis stream through and through.

Silver Bow Creek:
I haven't been out there yet this year but things usually get going right about now.  You'd be surprised by what may eat your larger attractor dry or simple streamer...

Missouri River (Craig reach):
I have to distinguish what area now because my Missouri River Range has grown so much over the last few years.  The dry fly bite is on big-time.  There are pods of snotty MO trout all over the river. You need to bring your A game.  Perfectly placed casts and drag free drifts are crucial.  Fly selection comes second in importance.  They will eat PMD spinners, caddis, and buzzballs like candy if you can present them properly.

Holter Lake Carping: 
I'm embarrassed to say that it was my first time on the boat up at Holter recently.  It is such a beautiful place!  I didn't have much info on carp fishing up there but I knew that they had to be there. They are, and they get big like in Clark Canyon.  The carp were tough and I got my ass handed to me. There is still a bunch that are spawning but I was able to find some over on the rockier eastern shore that were willing to eat.  I even landed one of the largest carp yet to date. I can't wait to get back up there again.  There are also some great trout in Holter!

Three Forks Ponds Carping:
The carping in the Three Forks Ponds is outstanding right now!  There are still some spawners but the ones that aren't are tailing in groups in the flats.  Throw a small black wooly bugger or small leech pattern for all-day action.

Clark Canyon Carping:
I haven't been down there since I've been back but I imagine it is the same as Holter.  They were in full spawn mode before I left and the fishing was hit or miss picking on the wallflowers. The carping should get better and better here by the day.  It's time to start thinking about callabaetis, damsels, and dragonfly nymphs perfectly cast and timed to be in the hot zone of a slowly cruising, golden submarine.

Georgetown Lake:
I will be checking in on Montana's finest brook and rainbow trout lake very soon.  The traveling sedge caddis should be underway as we speak and intensifying over the next few weeks.  Also, callabaetis, damsels, and dragonflies in nymph and adult form will play out as well.  The traveling sedge hatch on G-town is one of the finest of any hatch you will ever encounter.  Big bugs and big willing fish are what it is all about.  Have you ever had a 100+ fish dry fly day?


Thats all I got for now.

Southwest Montana fishing report - late February 2016

Fiesta Mexicana or "The Taco Bus" in Dillon, MT

If you have never eaten at the Taco Bus in Dillon, MT, you are missing out on the best, most authentic, and unique meal in Montana!  Go there!!

For whatever reason, the fly shops in Southwest Montana don't do fishing reports in the winter. We have 4 awesome tailwaters within an hour and a half drive from Butte that fish all winter long. What's the deal!?

I've been really busy with work, teaching, and school but I've made it out the past few weekends to check in on the trout. Here's what I've found:

The Upper Clark Fork:
The river is carrying a ton of water right now.  We are having a pre-runoff runoff.  Southwest Montana had a decent winter run for a while there, maybe even better than last year which was not good for snow and summer flows. That seems to be over now though as early spring has set in big-time.  Let's hope for more snow and a wet spring or the Hoot Owl will wake up again this year. The fishing in the UCF was the slowest of all the rivers and for the most part, downright sucked. Throwing streamers and nymphing was the game, however,  the push of cold water was not on our side.

The Ruby River:
The Ruby is still running turquois.  Does it ever stop?  The fishing resembled the Clark Fork with a weak streamer bite.  The only real action was on winter-type tailwater nymphs right below the dam but even that was slow.  I saw two or three sporadic rises to midges but nothing really going on that front yet.

The Beaverhead:
The Beav is where all the action is.  It has been windier than a bucket full of assholes in SW Montana for the last couple of weeks and any midges have blown clear to Iowa.  The streamer bite was red-hot 2 weeks ago but a little less so last week.  The Poindexter is undergoing some restoration work (I'm getting restoration fatigue) but still fished pretty good with streamers and winter nymphs.  I saw some spawning behavior in some brown trout which was a bit weird.  Be careful of redds.  The midges will be on the main stem if you can avoid the wind.

The Missouri:
Haven't got to the MO yet this year but will in the next couple of days.  From my experience, the nymphing with winter-type nymphs should be great.  March is one of my favorite times to throw streamers on the MO for the biggest browns of the year and the rainbows which are fattening themselves up for the coming spawn.  I always say that some of the best dry fly action is in the next couple months with the midges and BWOs.  The fish haven't been relentlessly pounded on top for months on end by every dude in the world so, they're much more likely to eat a fly.  We'll see how that goes.  More snow, less wind please!

The moose days of summer - Butte area fishing report

Beaverhead River moose

This has been a very long and hot summer in Southwest Montana and I'm not gonna lie; I'm over it. I used to put together a Missoula area fishing report from time to time and folks seemed to appreciate the unbiased reports.  I'm not affiliated with a fly shop and I'm not a guide so there's no hype. I just have a love for my area's amazing fishing and I hope that the ridiculous time I send on my local rivers can bring others some insight and a few fish.  I have held off on doing a Butte area report until I really felt like I had a solid grip on the area, but I think the time has come.

Beaverhead River:
The Beav is carrying a lot of color and water.  The fishing is a bit slow for my liking, but you'll have the river to yourself.  I've been spending a lot of time down there over the past few weeks and last week I floated from Buffalo to Pipe Organ and did not see another boat.  The best bet is to get out at sunrise and chase the cranefly hatch.  Since I work all week, waking up at 5 on my day off is not something I'm really down with.  In the late morning, there are still some PMDs and every once in a while you can get one to eat a hopper.  The streamer bite is weak even though the conditions seem appropriate.  Your best bet is to fish cranefly larvae under an indicator or pumped right off the banks. Also, going dirtbag and fishing a double worm rig with one of them being a Wire Worm has been effective. Once we move into fall, the Beav will come alive.

Big Hole River:
Check the mandatory closures before you head to the Big Hole as there are a couple of closed sections.  The Big Hole has really suffered from drought and heat this year and is running very low. I've been leaving it alone for the past month (as there are better options) but it is fishable.  Spruce moths, hoppers, and tricos are the fare on the Big Hole this time of year.  Prepare to drag your boat a bit!

Upper Clark Fork:
The Upper is also suffering from a severe lack of water but if your willing to do some walking, you'll find the fish.  They are in the places you'd expect them to be, the deeper riffles and runs.  It's hopper madness up here with some craneflies and tricos in the morning as well.  I had a great time fishing cranefly larvae through deeper holes stacked with brown trout this week.

Georgetown Lake:
The lake is fishing pretty well. The best bet here is to throw a hopper with a longer dropper rig than you'd use on a river.  Surprisingly, using a larger red San Juan Worm as a dropper can be killer even though it really doesn't make much sense.  Just have faith.  Some other good droppers are larger pink scuds and standard chronomid and midge larvae are good too.  There are some PMD/PEDs and still some Calibaetis as well.  In the late evening you can also frustrate yourself to no end with the micro caddis.  I love G-town and have really got to fish the crap out of it this year.  What a treasure!
    
Silver Bow Creek:
This may be the first true fishing report written for Silver Bow but it is not a secret anymore and I'll keep it real.  The work up in the canyon and the nasty, hot weather has made the creek a little bit tougher this year but due to the engineered nature of the channel below Fairmont, the creek is pretty drought tolerant.  Those big deep holes are still over a person's head in many spots.  All you need is a hopper here for some good fun.

These conditions should be the norm until the real fall weather starts to show.  I can't wait for that. Die summer die!

Missoula County Fishing Report

I'm too broke to leave town.  That's ok, it's a big week for fishing here in town.  There is a lot going on with the fish and a lot going on for those who love them.

that downtown brown

Bitterroot: 
All of the local streams experienced a small push of water with the rain and then nice weather.  The "numora" is king on the lower half of the Root.  If you want to fish dries, it is where it's at.

For nymphing, use the same stuff you've been using all spring.  The worm in red is hot right now as is the SH Sow Bug.

I spotted one osprey on the Bitterroot yesterday, now it is really spring.  I'll keep my eye on osprey cam.

Clark Fork:
The river above the confluence with the Bitterroot just can't settle in.  It was close, but it got a push of cold water last week.  It basically ended the dry fly fishing that was shaping up and even put down the good nymphing.

Last week I hit the river below the Bitterrroot confluence on a cloudy day.  For a short while it was all out BWO heaven.  The big boys were up in the swirlys taking the adults (which look the size of green drakes after looking at midges all spring).  I love to go after the swirly fish with a "short leash" setup.

Blackfoot:
 I've seen boats heading up that way.  I would bet that the nymphing is good to great up there right now.  Deep nymphing big stonefly nymphs, small mayflies, worms and eggs will produce in the winter/spring type water.  Dry flies are probably a ways off.

Rock Creek: 
Shit-hot nymphing with stones, worms, and eggs.  No dry flies on the lower end.

Area lakes and ponds:  Beavertail and Frenchtown are 100% thawed.  Harper's will thaw next.
Walk the banks of Beavertail and look for red sided submarines.  Throw brown/green/white bugger at leading edge of submarine.  Hold on!  Repeat.