Bigfork Montana Fly Fishing Report

Dry fly fishing in the Blackfoot canyon.

Bigfork Fly Fishing Report

The weather has been really hot! Lucky for us we have lots of cold water. Both the upper Swan and Flathead River system are nice and cool, and fishing well. Dry fly fishing is still an all day event. Pmds, sallies, and caddis have the fish looking up. There are a few goldens left so the big bugs are still getting some attention. The weather looks like it’s going to cool down to more “normal” temps and that should help keep you from melting in the drift boat in the afternoon, and keep the dry fly bite going throughout the day. Smallish attractors, little sallies, small para caddis, pmd sparkle duns, pmd cripples, and purple haze have all been working well.

Hoot Owl Restrictions

We haven’t ever experienced hoot owl restriction here on the Flathead River. But this is an unusual year, and we are already getting water temps topping out in mid upper 60s on the Forks and Main Stem, so you never know.  The Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot are all under Hoot Owl Closures (closed to fishing between 2pm and midnight) as of July 2nd. We’ve been ahead of curve on the dawn patrol program for the past week. There is still good dry fly fishing most of the day despite the Africa heat. The key is to go early, play’m fast, and be done before 2pm if you want to fish down south on one of these rivers.