Runoff – Not Over Yet?

The rivers have all dropped a ton the last several days. That being said, the freestones are still big and the water is pretty cold. The warmer weather this weekend will certainly get some bugs moving but it will also get some water moving. The graphs are projected to turn up starting tomorrow. It looks like we have another small bump in flows over the next week and then down she goes. That might be the end of it, scary…

The Flathead River has dropped a ton and is greening up nicely. You should be able to catch some fish out there for the next couple days before it starts back up.  Look for side channels and inside corner shelves to hold fish. It’s still pretty big and there’s not a lot of fishable water, but you might find a big one in these conditions. Luckily the Flathead has some decent snowpack and will likely sustain at higher flows for the next couple weeks, we’ll see.

The Blackfoot River has also dropped a ton and is sitting at a very fishy level. The water is still cold but you should be able to get some good ones on streamers and nymphs down there. Look for some caddis in the afternoons and some possible dry fly fishing also. It’s a great time of year to fish it before the summer traffic and while the bigger fish are fresh on the prowl.

The Clark Fork is really close to that 12k mark we like. There should be a couple days of decent conditions to give it a go.

If the rivers hold for a few days, the warm weather this weekend should get the caddis out and some fish up. Look for caddis, and possibly some residual skwalas and march browns on our freestones this weekend. With the low snowpack in all our drainages salmon flies will likely pop early so keep an eye on flows and be prepared for an early emergence of the big bugs.

Whitewater Festival is this weekend in Bigfork so swing by, we will be grilling in the back and having a few cool ones.