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| 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!
