Good Fishing Despite the Rain

Blackfoot brown

Despite all the crazy rain we’ve been getting, most of our drainages didn’t see much of an increase in flows and they continue to provide good fishing.  So far the Flathead is the only River that really got a big push of water from all this rain. It is already turning over and will likely drop very quickly. We have been sending most of our trips to the Blackfoot and Missouri and the fishing has been good to “ridiculous”.  The weather forecast is for SUMMER! The fish and the bugs are going to respond…

Flathead River Fishing Report – Mud pie!

Blackfoot River Fishing Report – The fish are starting to look up more consistently and with the coming warm weather and dropping flows, the dry fly fishing should really heat up. The latter part of the day has been the best for the dry fly eats as of late, but as the weather turns this next few days look for the surface action to expand into the AM.  Girdle bugs/stonefly nymphs, worms, and streamers along the willows are picking up fish if the dry fly is getting a slow start. Dropping a turd or a worm off the foam bug will get fish but keep you from stroking the sweet spot and getting a good twitch on the dry.  Decisions decisions….

Clark Fork River Fishing Report – Talked to a fellow outfitter who had a boat on it yesterday and he said it was almost there but not quite. Tons of bugs but not enough vis to get them looking yet. Once it gets a little more visibility it’s going to fish really well. Any day now…

Swan River Fishing report – Surprisingly, the river didn’t pick up much water or color from the last rain, yet… It is still very high but has a couple feet of vis. We fished the upper a few days ago and got some fish to eat streamers. It wasn’t fast and furious but the fishing will continue to improve once the flows start to drop a bit. Or you could keep driving down the valley and catch fish on huge foam flies on the Blackfoot….hmmmm

On another note –    There is a LARGE grizzly sow with cubs in the canyon stretch of the Blackfoot river just below the first slide bank on the river right side early in the float. A fellow outfitter friend who encountered the bear 2 days before we did called the FWP and they have since moved the elk carcass the bears were feeding on. The bear was still there yesterday after the carcass had been moved but they will likely leave soon. There has been conversation among the guiding community to keep it quiet so that FWP doesn’t try to close the river but this bear is pissed and a potential danger. My friend did the right/responsible thing by contacting the authorities. This bear is potentially dangerous, she jumped out of the willows approximately 25 feet from our bout and was not happy about us being there. Be careful!