Bigfork Montana Fly Fishing – River Report

Bugsy caught some nice fish with Andy the last couple days on the Mo.

General Outlook:  The sun is out, the water is high, and we are catching fish. It sure feels good to see that glowing orb in the sky for a change. Local fishing options are limited to the lakes and tailwaters but there are some fish willing to play. The lower Swan and the South fork of the Flathead are our two local tailwaters and they are both producing some fish in the high water conditions. We’ve also had some folks out on the Missouri and it continues to produce big fish and big smiles. The Missouri is definitely the best option in the state right now and will cotinue to be for a couple more weeks at least. We had a decent report from the South Fork of the Flathead yesterday so that is an option. The water is high up the South Fork but it has warmed up enough to get some fish looking up. There were some rising fish late in the day is the word. Also heard the Thompson was fishing.

 Bigfork Bay: We are primarily nymph fishing the Bay with LARGE stonefly nymphs and SJWorm combo rigs under a large indicator about 10 ft to the lead fly. The nymph style leader is the best.  Some smaller beadhead attractor nymphs are also producing when the worm is off. Lake trout are plentiful in the Bay right now and are eating streamers well. Our best laker fly has been the white Urchin Bugger. There are a few fish starting to eat on top in the evening. Don’t expect big numbers of bows or cutts out there but the chance at a 2 footer should keep you focused and the lakers are entertaining enough.

Lower Swan River: The water is high and fast but there are a few nice fish around. Again, we are mostly nymphing.  The same rig as in the bay but we have had a few fish come to look at the indicator so that gives us hope for dry flies soon. The warm weather might help get some bugs going and possibly some dry fly opportunities if the flows don’t jump too bad. We haven’t been catching a ton of fish on the lower. A good day has been 8 or 10 fish but like the Bay the chance for a fish over 20″ is always there.  We hooked a big one yesterday and it broke us off on 3x. Guessing it was 22ish.