A nice cooling trend perked up the rivers the last several days. It feels like we are on the down side of the summer hump. Back to school ads and kiddos dressed in their first-day-of-school outfits are a sure sign that the Hecuba (fall drake) will show up soon. At the very least, the hottest part of summer is behind us. Cooler nights will continue to help bring down the water temps and open up our afternoon options on the Blackfoot and Clark Fork.

River reports have been all over the board from our guides. Everything from a few to a few dozen is the word. The dropper helps, but not your guide’s ego. A good drift helps more…Terrestrials are the patterns you will want to throw. Ants, beetles, bees, wasps, hornets, hoppers, and little terrestrial type attractor dries are all good choices. A small hopper with a little ant off the back is hard to beat. Still plenty of fish willing to eat the dry if it is presented properly.

The smoke has finally settled in unfortunately. It isn’t too bad compared to south of here towards Missoula, but a little haze has been present lately. The silver lining is that it acts as a pseudo cloud layer so it doesn’t feel as hot and some nicer fish have been prowling. Hopefully we’ll get some much needed moisture sometime soon.

Our water temps are nice and cool here on the Flathead and we should start to see some nicer fish moving around in the system as the summer heat fades.

Jason Lanier
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