Summertime

What a great June we’ve been having. The rivers are all in great shape and giving up some excellent dry fly fishing. We’ve been lucky to have some cool weather and moisture to push back the dreaded summer heat that’s on the horizon. Get it while it’s easy.

Flathead River – Fishing great with foam attractors and parachute mayfly patterns. PMDs in the afternoon have provided some outstanding dry fly fishing late in the day. Droppers in the am have been providing lots of action in between the chubby explosions. Fish will eat mayfly patterns pretty early in the day but its been better in the afternoon. Tung jig attractor nymphs are also working well. ALL the jig patterns we have in the shop will work. Doesn’t matter that much. Have fun while it lasts, she drying up fast. Currently the Flathead is flowing at about 1/3 its normal flow for this time of year. Things will get challenging soon so enjoy this easy fishing.

Blackfoot River – Salmon flies, golden stones, green drakes, pmds, caddis, sallies… Stone flies in the sunshine, mayflies in the clouds. Dancing a single salmon fly all day will likely yield a few rewards but probably be less productive than a golden with a mid sized mayfly cripple off the back. Same goes for the streamer, although a cloudy day might make it a more worthy venture. All the usual jiggy tungsten dropper stuff will work as will SJWs, rubber legs and such. A little less boaty now that the Clark Fork is playing. Construction heading south near Salmon lake is horrendous and doesnt look to be done any time soon.

Clark Fork River – Straight dumb. Throw a foam fly out there and catch fish. Add a dropper for a gluttonous trout beat down. Like all our western freestone rivers, the Clark Fork is flowing well below it’s normal flows for late June. The river is dropping fast and there’s a heat wave around the corner – the easy button fishing isn’t gonna stick around for very long. Golden stone foamies, chubs, big parachute mayflies, PRLs, Tung jig nymphs. etc.