A report from the Beaverhead

Beaverhead Brown

Yesterday, I put work and school aside and went fishing.  I had never fished the Beav in the winter and that needed to come to an end.  Boy did it!

The Beaverhead is one of my favorite streams in the world and now I can honestly say that it is one of my favorite wintertime fisheries.  I had an outstanding couple of hours (20+ fish in the net) on streamers and nymphs and I had miles of stream all to myself.  In fact, the only people I saw were a couple young kids who never left the sight of their rig in the FAS.  I went deep.

The flow in the Beav is really low right now allowing you to wade wherever you want.

I fished the area near the mouth of Grasshopper Cr. because I just needed to get on the water.

Have a good day Mr. Trutta!

I had a lot of fun throwing smaller sized streamers.  The browns were really in the mood to give chase and I had a lot of exciting chase downs.  I could get about 3 or so per run.  Later in the day though, I wanted to get some bang for my buck so I set up a winter nymph rig.  I had a Ray Charles with a Soft Hackle Sow Bug dropper.  As always, the Soft Hackle Sow out-fished everything else, even after all the orange paint came off the bead.

I already can't wait to go back...

Nymphing still key for all day sucsess on the Mo

The Missouri River is fishing great but it's a bit more work than normal.  There are some fish up on dries in the evening but it is not really worth the time.  Streamers were also weak the past couple of days due to the bright-ass sun.  The fish are really hot on small mayfly nymphs though.  Fish them deep in the sun, even in the afternoon.  I did better climbing around on the rip rap in the canyon today than floating through it.  I was fishing winter-like water and fishing it deep.  I caught some great fish and my biggest brown of the year so far.  Tomorrow looks like it may be the day for streamers!

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.

Western Montana Dry Fly Report

Cut off your nymph rigs.  The bugs are here!

Mating midge swarm on the lower Bitterroot

Rock Creek:  You may want to wait to cut off your nymph rig until you actually see rising fish here.  I'd bet money that some BWO's and march browns float by and interrupt your nymphing.  Along with the regular winter nymphs, incorporating baetis and larger mayfly nymphs on a short leash system can be really fun.

The Bitterroot:  The fish in the lower river are keyed into the large sized midge hatch which is occurring daily at noon.  These midges are just a bit smaller than BWO's and the hatch is very similar.  The mating swarms even look the same (see photo).  These midges don't cluster so patterns which suggest a single hatching midge is the only way to go.  Yesterday was the first day I observed Skwala adults floating on the surface.  It was pretty funny to watch them wiggle through pods of large rising fish and go totally unnoticed!  I've noticed Numora in the air and on water and have been hearing those great sounding rises the fish make when they are on to them.  The weirdest thing, NO BWO's yet.  I've never seen Skwala before BWO's.  I hope they still come!

The Clark Fork:  The reports from the fly shops are saying that the lower river (below Missoula) is in great shape and that there are good hatches of BWO's and march browns daily.  When the Skwala's get going here, it's the real deal.  There are 500X more of them and 600X less guide boats, dudes, and fair-weather fisherpeople than on the Root.  The Clark Fork is my favorite stream and this is my favorite time of year.

The Blackfoot:  If your still looking for winter nymphing, go here.  You may see some fish looking up but there are safer bets for finding dry fly opportunities right now.

Area Lakes:  Beavertail Pond, Frenchtown Pond, and the secret bass pond are mostly thawed.  Detailed reports will come soon...