We took Amare out on his first fly fishing trip the other day and he and his girlfriend got some Cutthroat on dry flies. Legendary Bigfork Guide Andy Guy got them into some good action on the Flathead River.  

Amare with his first fly caught trout.

Ready to dominate the river

Volunteers are needed to help with the seventh annual Blackfoot River Cleanup on Saturday, July 31.  

Cleanup participants should meet at 3898 Rainbow Bend Drive, between mile markers 8 and 9 on Highway 200, just east of Bonner. Volunteers with boats and scuba divers should meet at 8 a.m.  All other participants should gather at 9 a.m.

Blackfoot residents Bob and Marietta Pfister, in cooperation with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Blackfoot Home & Community Club, organized the first cleanup in 2004 as part of a larger effort to keep the river corridor clean and safe.

A free barbeque will be held at the Pfister’s for all participants following the cleanup. For more information, call (406) 244-5442.

Every yard in Montana is part of the local watershed, the flow of water that ends up in our streams and rivers. And there are trout in those rivers, such as brown trout, rainbow trout, native cutthroat, brook trout and native bull trout. As Montana continues to grow in size and population, each different type of trout will likely share a common threat – more potential sources of water pollution. But there are a few easy things that every local resident can do to make our waterways run cleaner.

Trout Friendly Lawns encourages local landowners to avoid chemical pesticides and lawn fertilizers, while advocating for responsible watering in the summer. Chemical fertilizers can wash into streams and rivers and contribute to algae blooms, which deplete oxygen in the water and stress trout. Pesticides work in water the same as they do on land, killing aquatic vegetation and the insects that trout feed on. They are also harmful to family pets. Trout Friendly Lawns gives small yard signs to residents that have made an effort to use some of the following “trout-friendly” lawn care techniques: 

Sometimes it might seem like there is only one fish per mile on the lower Swan but if it’s like the fish that Brent landed yesterday then it makes for an ok day.

Nice bow from the lower Swan River

There are salmon flies, golden stones, & caddis on the lower Swan right now. Will the fish decide to eat them soon?

Over the coming weeks, federal officials say, grasshoppers will likely hatch in bigger numbers than any year since 1985. A federal survey of 17 states taken last fall found critically high numbers of adult grasshoppers in parts of Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Each mature female lays hundreds of eggs. So “the population could be very, very high this year,” said Charles Brown, who manages grasshopper suppression for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Get'm early.....they sold out of every fly shop in Montana last year.

Not so good for the farmers but should be a good thing for the fly angler. I know it’s still May but it’s going to be an early hopper year with our current snow pack.  I have a few new home brewed hoppers that are waiting……