Bigfork Montana Fly Fishing Report

Susie with a nice hopper eater.

After a week of clouds and cool fall like weather, the rivers are recharged and it feels like summer again. Water temps are great everywhere and a few sightings of hecubas (fall drakes) are a sure sign the dog days of summer are on their way out. The hecuba(often mistaken for a green drake) is one of our favorite hatches. It’s not generally a prolific event so it often gets overlooked and under-fished. Large mayfly patterns are a good bet in the coming weeks and they will often out-fish a hopper pattern, even on sunny warm afternoons.

We just recently made a trip over east to the Mighty Missouri and had great fishing despite the weeds. The streamer bite was VERY good under the clouds…We had a great day fishing foam flies too but the streamer was so good it was hard to resist…a few eats an hour or a few eats every 5 minutes? The Mo is really quiet and enjoyable right now as most folks have been run off by the weeds. If you like hopper/attractor fishing and have the skill set for it, this is a great time.

Our local rivers are also fishing well. With night time temps a bit cooler, the afternoon has offered the best fishing on the freestones the last few days. That might change if the weather gets back into the mid 80s but it looks like some more cool weather is headed our way. Hoppers, ants, purple haze, and small attractors are still the dry flies of choice. Hecuba mayflies and October caddis will show in better numbers in the coming weeks as we transition into fall. Turds, worms, and beadhead attractor stuff are all productive under the edible indicator(Chubby Chernobyl). Streamers have been productive as well so give it a shot if you want to change things up.

Little ones and college kids are heading back to school…now is a great time to enjoy some solitude and beautiful weather on the river.