Bigfork Montana Fly Fishing - River Report

General Outlook: Most of the freestone graphs look about like the one above. The weather is calling for cold nights around the freezing mark so levels should continue their downward trend. Highs will reach into the 70’s again by mid week so the flows could shift upward again but we will see. The next few days are looking pretty good.

Blackfoot River Report: Still pretty big and not a great option but if it continues to drop you could probably dredge up a couple big ones on streamers.
Bugs / Fly Patterns: March Browns, Caddis, Skwalas, BWOs / 20 incher stones, double bead stones, rubber legs, princes, glo bugs, San Juans, beadhead whatevers, streamers

Lower Clark Fork River Report: Still dropping steadily and if it continues it should fish by mid week. All you need is a few feet of vis and things will happen. The warm weather in the forecast should have the caddis out and skwala patterns twitched of the bank could get some eats. March browns & bwos are still a factor and might have some fish up in the right spots. We’ve had some exceptional fishing this time of year in these conditions. It can be a gamble but it can also produce some banner dry fly days with big foamies. There can be some prolific stonefly hatches in late spring on this river. I’ve heard it called an Acranaria (spring stone) but it looks more like a skwala with a brighter yellow thorax. The main difference is that they fly like crazy and are a little bigger. We’ve seen them come off like locusts and create aggressive strikes in high off colored water. Worth the gamble?
Bugs / Fly Patterns: March Browns, Caddis, Skwalas, BWOs / Rogue Skwalas, Silveys little olive, Fat Franks, 20 incher stones, double bead stones, rubber legs, princes, glo bugs, San Juans, beadhead whatevers, coffee minnows, urchin buggers, general streamers.

Flathead River Report: Still pretty high but starting to green. A few feet of vis is all you need. Focus on the soft back eddies and seams with big stone nymphs and SJWs and you should get a few. The weather is going to be nice for a boat ride anyway.
Bugs / Fly Patterns: March Browns, Caddis, Skwalas, BWOs / 20 incher stones, double bead stones, rubber legs, princes, glo bugs, San Juans, beadhead whatevers.

Swan River Report: Upper is closed. The bay is starting to fill up so wade fishing wil be difficult. The flows have been dropping like all the other rivers and there are always a few nice fish around this time of year. The lake trout should start to show up soon so the streamer fishing will entertain. They like white and flashy.
Bugs / Fly Patterns: March Browns, Caddis, Skwalas, BWOs / 20 incher stones, double bead stones, rubber legs, princes, glo bugs, San Juans, beadhead whatevers, urchin buggers, flash fry, skiddish smolt, sparkle minnows.

Other Stuff: The Mo is fishing VERY good right now. Tons of March browns on the lower river and some big fish showing themselves. And of course bobbers at the dam. Looking to mix it up from the Missouri? The Bitterroot, Bighole, Upper Clark Fork above Garrison, & Little Blackfoot are all fish-able. Mother’s day caddis erupted on the Bitterroot today and it fished fantastic with a single dry all afternoon. Should be epic the next few days in the warmer weather.