Bigfork Fly Fishing Report

Typically this time year we have great fishing options on the main stem of the Flathead River and the Swan River around Bigfork. Unfortunately we are experiencing a very large early push of run-off from snow melt and rain that has both rivers xtra large. It doesn’t look like flows are coming down anytime soon either. You can dig some fish out on nymphs in a few select spots but the overall conditions are way less than ideal, especially for dry fly fishing.

So what are the options? Well, you can head over to the Rez and do some pond fishing for false spawners(not our idea of fishing) or head to the Missouri River, Jocko River, Thompson River, or Bitterroot River. The Missouri is the sure bet for catching fish as you can always resort to your pink scub bobber rig and get a few. Also, for you floating anglers the Mo is much easier to navigate as there are no woody side channels or diversion dams to navigate…making it the easy out for spring fishing. But the Bitterroot is about to come into the zone and offer up some great dry fly fishing with skwala stone flies and march browns making it the best dry fly option for sure.

The Clark Fork and Blackfoot are still a bit oversized and cold so they’re not a great option quite yet. Hopefully they’ll drop into shape soon.

I’d like to tell you to come on down to the shop and check out all our awesome new bugs and logo gear but farm animals, frequent diaper changes, wrestling tournaments, birthday parties, guide trips, etc…. have kept me from opening the doors. Soon I think….soon. Give us a call if you need something and we’ll be glad to pop down and open the shop for you if we are in the vicinity.