Flathead River Fly Fishing Report

Great action on the swung fly yesterday.

The Flathead River is fishing good right now. Lots of grabs on the swung fly and the nymphs were very productive as well. A prince nymph or any mid sized beadhead attractor, rubber legged stone, or SJW will work. You can see the streamer of choice in the photo above, classic crystal cone bugger in olive. No need to get fancy, it works just fine. Per usual for the winter, the fish were in the slower winter type holding water. Slow banks, back eddies, soft insides, and slower shelf drop offs are all holding fish. Lots of 12-15″ fish to the net. Our biggest fish yesterday was a 19″ cutthroat that smashed the bugger on the swing. For a second I thought I was steelheading…super fun.

The two hander rig I’m throwing is as follows:

11’6 6wt
475gr Skagit short
Berkley Solar Collector big game mono 30lb running line attached with an albright to the backing and double surgeons loop to the fly line loop.
10ft 7IPS Rio spey Versileader out to 12lb flouro

The Old Steel Bridge take out is completely blocked off by a massive ice jam and will probably remain that way for the rest of the season. You can take out on the east side access below the bridge but you need 4 wheel drive. It’s icy and snowy.