Missoula area fishing report - late October

The East Coast does not have a monopoly on fall colors!

So far it has been a busy fall here at RBM headquarters.  Since I've been back I have taken three sets of people out fishing and finally yesterday, I got to fish Rock Creek until it hurt.  I've been waiting until I fished most of our local options before I wrote a report.

The Clark Fork:  The lower river was amazing last week.  It is one of my favorite places to fish in the fall.  We were still in that sunny, hot spell so the hopper dropper was king.  Those huge Clark Fork rainbows and cutbows were all over it.  Watching those big trout come up from the deep swirlys and slow sip your hopper is just too much fun.  Every type of hopper we used worked with the largest fish succumbing to the Unabomber.  Now that fall weather has arrived, it will be back to a mayfly game.  BWOs, mahoganies and the flies that represent them will catch you fish all day down here.  Look for sippers everywhere along the banks, in the scum lines, and the big swirlys.  Throwing streamers on the lower river in the clouds can also be amazing.

This weekend I had the honor of taking an international visitor, a policeman from Japan, out on a short float through town.  It was the last day of hot, sunny weather and the last of the summer hee-haw's were out in force.  We struggled a bit and even though we had an interpreter, the language barrier was tough.  I owe that guy a big long float down the MO or something.  This stretch of water should improve drastically with the clouds and cooler temps.

The Bitterroot:  The lower end of the 'Root was also slow in the sun and heat of last week.  We did get some nice ones on the hopper dropper rig though.  It was rough because right as things started to get good, the wind came up.  For whatever reason, the fish in the root are very sensitive to the wind as compared with the other streams in the area.  That same float on a cloudy day like today would be a whole different story.  The lower root is a great place to throw streamers in the fall as well.

Rock Creek:  I had been playing guide since I got home from CA so yesterday, I took advantage of the incoming storm and went out to Rock Creek for a whole day of intensive fishing all by myself.  The morning was tough.  It was still sunny and there were dudes everywhere.  I mean everywhere!  Then, the storm came through and all of a sudden, I had the place to myself.  Rain, clouds, October, no wind, and some new wading boots; I was in freaking heaven.  I put on a white bunny streamer and moved so many fish it was unreal.  The big boys were out in force.  I caught some great browns and the large cutts also came out to play.  I fished and covered water until it hurt.  I put in a full ten hour day and limped and moaned the whole way back to the truck in the dark.  I'd been waiting two months to do that!  There were fish up on BWOs and mahoganies but the streamer fishing was too good and exciting to even think about throwing a dry.  Nymphing was really slow, even with eggs.

I'll have detailed reports from the Mo and the Blackfoot soon as well as the upper Clark Fork. 

Missoula area fishing report - Bighorn Edition - Early August

Handsome Ram

Rock Creek:  The fishing at Rock Creek is elementary and outstanding right now.  The hell with salmonflies, give me the spruce moth!  The spruce moths have cyclical hatches (like a lot of our bug friends) and this year is a heavy one.  I've been seeing them on all the local streams and the fish are more excited than me about it.

Get off the paved road and away from people.  Make sure to have decent wading boots with studs because the rocks in the creek are super slick right now and the flow is still good.  Fish the shallow faster-fast riffles with your Elk Hair Caddis selection and move your way downstream hitting above and below every mid-stream rock.  When there is good pocket water or riffle which runs up against the bank, stand in the middle of the river and cast towards the bank.  You should be catching bucket-loads of small fish with lots of bigger fish mixed in.  If not, your fishing skills need some work because it is unreal up there right now.  Honestly, your fish count will directly correspond to your ability to move up and down the stream to cover water.  I covered about 2 1/2 miles and caught fish on the dry, all day long.

While I was climbing on top of a log jamb, I looked down and saw a huge bull trout hiding in the shade right underneath me. I froze and tried to slowly reach for my camera as he slid slowly into better view.  Then, I could see him look right up at me and, POOF- gone.

Clark Fork:  The Clark Fork is in great shape and the fishing is really good, even around town, and even with the tubers.  I caught some great fish right in between tubers this week.  It's funny to have a drunken audience when your catching fish, especially because most people don't realize that there are such great fish right around town.  I just wish the tubers didn't trash the place. Anyway, the spruce moths are gonzo and the big fish are one em, big-time.  The Kingfisher Fly Shop put a great tip in their fishing reports.  They mentioned using a Prince nymph as a dropper under your whatever.  Boy, whatever the trout are taking that for, I don't know.  But the Prince nymph dropper is working like an electrofishing wand right now.  I switched over to a double Prince set-up but that was not as effective.  It seems like the trout want the dropper on a pretty short leash.  Anyway, in the afternoon, cut the prince nymph off and trail an Elk Hair Caddis of the back of your smaller hopper for the spruce moth.  The big fish are eating on top - nuff said.

Bitterroot:  The lower Root is also fishing great with smaller hoppers and spruce moths as well as some remaining PMDs and caddis in the evening.  Although it's been hotter than a two dollar pistol here in Montana, we are still maintaining good flows on all of our streams.  Hopper season on the lower Root is really fun.  There are a lot of BIG cutthroat down here love to slow-sip the hopper.

Blackfoot:  I haven't been up there in a while but with the insane amount of spruce moths I've been seeing everywhere, I'm thinking the Blackfoot would be really fun right now.

Lakes and ponds:  You tell me.  It's up in the air whether I'll be fishing an alpine lake, wildeness stream, or restored mine disaster this week.  Stay tuned.

Hey baby, why the long face?

Montana traffic jam

Missoula area fishing report - July

They're here 

Clark Fork:  The CF is still big but clear and fishing great!  You'll want a boat and someone who can row or hit your safe high-er water spots.  I saw a lot of summer weekender fishers struggling this weekend with the current conditions.  So, maybe this report will be more effective if I write about what not to do.  First off, it's summer and fishing on a bright sunny day at 3 in the afternoon is about the worst time ever.  Yet, for some reason, it seems that a lot of people wait all year to go fishing and then go at that time.  You need to get up early or get out at dusk.  As you can see from above, the tube hatch is in full swing.  A good rule of thumb: If there's tubes on the water, you should not be.  Also, if you'r not catching fish, move on.  I saw about 10 people fishing the Double Tree hole last night like they were on the Salmon River in NY with a guy skipping stones in between them all.  I mean, give yourself a chance people.  There are tons of rising trout less than 1/4 mile up or downstream and all these people were in the wrong spot and all over each other.  Weird. 

In the early morning there are tons of PMDs and huge Clark Fork trout gorging on them until about 11.  There is some mid-day fishing to be had but it tapers off hard in the afternoon.  Then, at about 7:30 +/-, the PMD spinners and swarms of caddis cover the water, and it is on all over again.  I caught some great fish on caddis dries this last weekend.  Finally!!

The Blackfoot:  I try to stay away from the shit show of guides, dudes, and tubers that take over the best reaches of the Blackfoot for the summer time.  Can anyone say “river permits are on their way?”  However, just like on any other body of water, the Blackfoot has its secrets.  If you actually spend the time to do your homework, you can have the best of the fishing and the whole place to yourself.

For instance, there are miles and miles of Blackfoot and some fantastic tribs up around the Lincoln area.  See my Mike Horse Mine post to understand why the fish numbers are lower up here than on the lower river.  However, when you consider people per fish per mile (something that should always be considered), you’re in the money. Instead of other fisherpeople and tubers, the only thing you’re going to run into up here is bears and moose.

Streamers are great in the morning and there are some great brown trout up here mixed in with the cutthroat. My best brown was caught dipping a Prince Nymph into a root wad hole.  In the evening, there is a massive rusty spinner fall and caddis are everywhere.  These fish don't see a lot of artificial flies and will destroy your Elk Hair Caddis without thinking twice. 

Buy a map, some gas, some bear spray, and some elk hair caddis and get it done!

The Bitterroot:  I can't give a really accurate report here.  I haven’t been on the Root since before runoff.  I imagine it’s shaping up like nobody’s business.  The caddis and PMD spinners on the lower Root are great this time of year.  You’re still going to want a boat for a little while longer with the above average flows.

Rock Creek:  This stream is so much fun this time of year!  An attractor with a dropper is all you usually need unless you get into a specific hatch.  Instead of tubers, you’re going to have to deal with a bunch of dudes.  The thing that you have to remember and keep telling yourself is that the majority of them have no idea what the hell they are doing and they are not catching all the fish, by any means.  The best way to avoid them is to get up early, get off the paved road, cover some miles on foot, and you will catch more awesome fish than you ever thought possible.  Don’t drive up next to the hole, make 1,000 casts in the same lame spot 500 other fisherpeople have pounded on for the past 3 months.  Try to remember Montana’s stay-out-of-sight ethic and try as hard as possible to make it happen.  

For this time of year, I like to fish a smaller golden stone attractor with a short nymph dropper in the daytime. Fish the knee deep riffle water. If you can't get up early to avoid the other fisherpeople, you will get double rewarded right now by staying out late.  As I mentioned earlier, most people want to fish in the heart of the afternoon.  Most of them will go home right before some great evening caddis fishing starts to shape up. In the evening, your favorite caddis pattern or a rusty spinner will nail em. 

Area lakes and ponds:  The trout lakes are fishing great.  For the most part, the summertime rules of early morning and evening still apply here.  I'd love to be up at Georgetown right now as I'm sure the damsels have the big rainbows all worked up.  I'll be fishing the Seeley-Swan region in the coming days and will have an expanded report on that.  The little stocker ponds are not the place to go right now.  They get fished out and hot and filled with swimmers etc.

So in a nutshell, avoid tubers, stale water, the middle of the day, and you'll have some really great, classic Montana, summertime fishing.

Missoula area fishing report

Downtown March browns getting pelted with raindrops

Gorging swallows

Brown water fishing report:

The rivers are all huge!  There was a drop yesterday but the upcoming warm weather is going to make everything crazy.  This spring has been tough for fishing with all the low elevation snow.  Every time it rains or gets warm, there is a huge push of water on top of the already elevated flows.

Clark Fork (around Missoula)
Big and brown with the occasional tree.  Two days ago, I witnessed a very heavy March brown spinnerfall during a light rain/snowstorm.  There was a massive showing of shore swallows.  Some dinks noticed them as well.  The large trout are eating other things subsurface.  If you just need to fish and you don't have a plan B, you can make it happen here.

Fishing the Clark Fork during high water is possible and can actually be really good sometimes.  You just have to safely locate the various places in the river where the fish go when the water is high.  When the river is high and crazy, the amount of places that trout can hold is reduced.  Find these places and you'll find happiness. Don't be afraid to fish irrigation canals, side channels, and slow winter-type water (if you can find it).  The mouths of the tribs are the safest bet.  Throw your junk into the mud and let it drift into the clean.

The Clark Fork trout are generally less put off by colored water, relative to the other streams in the area. Sometimes, they will even eat on top.  Generally though, using bright worms, large rubber legs, bead head nymphs, and eggs is the most effective.

Bitterroot River (around Missoula)
See Clark Fork Report.  The upper river is fishing great but I have not been up there to give an accurate report.

Lower Rock Creek
The creek is also huge.  It will be a struggle to access fishable water on the lower stream but if you find it, there will be a lot of fish.  Going around the P-burg way and fishing the upper reaches is the way to go.  The problem with that is, you drive right past Flint Creek.  Flint Creek fishes great during high water.  Those brown trout love it.  Anyway.

Area Lakes/Ponds
This is a great time to diversify your fly fishing world.  All of the area lakes and ponds are fishing great.  The lake hatches should start with the warm weather and I'll report on that when it happens.

Degrees Of Gray In Phillipsburg

I love Phillipsburg, Mt.  In fact, it is a very special place for many different aspects of my life.  I was part of making the "Degrees of Gray" into the "Prettiest Painted Places in America" a few years back.  When I entered into the professional world of trout conservation, I cut my teeth in the Flint Creek Valley working with ranchers and their irrigation diversions during a low water year.  Yes, people told me they would shoot me, a lot.

Richard Hugo is awesome.  This is a video of a short interview and then, a short clip where he reads his poem "Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg" to a backdrop of some P-burg and Granite footage.



Make a good stiff drink and listen to some poetry!
The Flint Creek Valley offers some fantastic fly fishing.

• Georgetown Lake
• Flint Creek
• Boulder Creek
• Trout Creek
• Upper Rock Creek
• Plus mountain lakes and secret creeks galore!