Bigfork Montana Fly Fishing

Clark Fork River

Good weather, good hatches, good fishing, fall colors, no crowds, no fires, no smoke…fall is a great time to visit our rivers. The next month is going to be very enjoyable, see you here.

Clark Fork River Report

Fishing good. Still some tricos and sulfers lingering and mixing in with the hecuba and moho mayflies. BWOs and mohos will intensify as the weather gets cooler. Cloudy days are always better for risers but a hopper dropper will still catch plenty in the bright sun. October caddis are showing up and make for a great search pattern on sunny afternoons. This river is only going to get better…

El Piscator Sals with a nice Clark Fork C-bow.

Blackfoot River Report

Still some trico action in the am with fish up in the foamie spots and slicks. A mid-sized parachute with a small p-tail is a great way to fish through the risers and is good for searching as well. An October caddis will support a sizable dropper if you need to get your dangle on. Darker days should have some critters looking for a streamer.

McMac work’n a classic Blackfoot foam hole. You know the one…

Flathead River Report

Getting better. A decent cast with a mid-sized mayfly pattern will get some attention. We’ve had several boats on the water daily with reports of nicer fish looking up. A foamie and a dropper is still working well but the mohaganies, BWOs, and fall caddis should make for some solid dry fly fishing in the afternoons over the next few weeks.

Swan River Report

Very low and clear making for challenging fishing. Fall caddis and hecuaba mayflies are around. An oversized parachute or October caddis way out in front of the boat might get you a few, a dropper might get you a few, a streamer might get you a few. Sometimes a few Swan fish is all you need…

Fall Dry Fly Patterns

Classic Quigley Cripple. Fish it in all sizes for any mayfly. It works!

October caddis – #12 orange stimulater, #10 orange elk hair caddis, #12 orange pmx, #14 orange chubby

BWO – 18’s & 20s – Nymen’s DOA Cripple, Rocky MTN mint purple, Traditional BWO thorax dun, purple comparadun, Last Chance cripple, purple haze/craze, Quigley cripple

Moho – 14s & 16s – Purple haze/craze, Rocky MTN Mint purple, harrup’s CDC dun and Last chance Cripple, Quigley cripple, pheasant tail cripple, pheasant tail parachute

Hecuba – #10 Moosetail parachute, purple haze/craze, Rocky mtn Mint, last chance cripple green drake, Quigley cripple, pheasant tail cripple, pheasant tail parachute