Montana Fly Fishing Report 5/29

Still thinking about that monster caught on the creek last week?

Georgetown Lake- We went up yesterday and had reasonably good fishing.  Try an olive bugger, czech about 4 feet down, or a fuzzy navel p.t., which is one of G. Pace's specialties. He tried a nightcrawler, but we beat him with a bat until he tied on a fly.

These are mooses-not salmonflies

Rock Creek-Slamonflies are out!  There were bugs spotted yesterday on the upper end. A few days ago Debbie Peltier at Trout Bums gave us the word that they were out on the lower, too. www.rockcreektroutbums.com Give her a call or stop in their shop if you're headed up da crick. The water looks perfect so get 'er goin!

Blackfoot River-Streamer bite has been fair. I think it's probably still a matter of a few degrees before it gets cranking. Try big and olive.  Stay away from the north fork, as the h20 is COLD. Mid river flows are big but the water looks primo. Remember, you cannot intentionally fish for bull trout.    www.flyfishmissoula.com

Montana Fly Fishing Report- No big ones in Rock Creek? Well, just one.

Awesomeness.

The Missouri river is fishing very well.  Duh.
Try fishing streamers on the cloudy days.  Baetis continue to pop and caddis are sort of around. Worst case scebnarion-try a big dry and a short dropper. Don't nymph. Seriously, just don't do it.
Georgetown lake is iceless and over-run with dingbats of all shapes, colors and sizes. Try red lightening bugs in 14, czechs in 14, olive buggers and even a parachute adams.  They will eat a dry if you can put it in front of them. Try to pull yourself away from the spawning fish, and find bright fish out deeper. Piney is a good place to start.
Rock Creek- Clear and low. Salmonflies should make an appearance very soon. For now try a worm, prince or bugger.  You can crush 'em with a streamer now too.   It is looking like the "perfect storm" is approaching, as flows continue to drop and the weather gets right.  Check with Deb at Trout Bums for dry fly info. Remember that she has a great little shop about 8 miles up.  Hot coffee and accurate info can be had there. www.rockcreektroutbums.com or you can hit up the Rock Creek Mercantile-406-825-6440.  They have up to the minute reports about logjams, shuttles and bugs. 
Clark Fork-Upper is low and mossy.  Whattup run-off?  Lower-Looks a bit like mocha, but I'm betting it's gonna be in soon.  Really I think the best early June fishing in years is nearly upon us. 

As an aside:

Ben Hahn, fishing with RFO guide Zack Lazzarri nailed this measured 29" brown on Rock Creek on sunday. This fish was released somewhere in the creek and might get caught again. What a freaking MONSTER!  My question: How many 9" browns has this old boy eaten? Not enough. Keep those little fellas for the BBQ! Btw, Ben;s a pretty darned fun guy to fish with, if you're in the Livingston, Montana area. Contact us and we'll get you in touch with him.  He's a good cat.

 

www.flyfishmissoula.com 

www.flyfishmissoula.com

Missoula Montana Fly Fishing

A nice one from this weekend

Missoula Fly Fishing Reports

Fly fishing in the Missoula area is on hold until the Clark Fork River, Bitterroot River and Blackfoot River settle down.  Rock Creek is still O.K. and there should be some fishing to be had. Check with Trout Bums for up to date conditions and fly choices. Deb, the owner, is available at  406-825-6146
   The Missouri has been awesome with baetis, march browns and a few caddis around.  Streamer fishing has been excellent on the cloudier days. Try slender and white. Dry/dropper has been equally good in the bright sun. Czech nymphs will get it done when other stuff won't. Bear in mind that it's BOATY over there. We just came off of several days on the Mo' and there were plenty of boats around. Skip the weekend, if you can.
  

Montana=Trout? Maybe.

Montana is known for fly fishing for trout. But there are some other fly fishing options that don't include dry flies and delicate presentations.
   I washed all of the mouse poop out of the duck boat this morning and took off for my version of fly fishing paradise. I took the Ewok along, as he needed some new memories. I guess we found 'em.
   Let's get this straight before it gets out of hand; I love watching my clients nail big trout. Trout represent all that is wild and free in the spirit of rivers. And, from time to time, I love catching them myself. But when it all comes down to it, I love chasing northerns in the spring. I really love it.
I won't bore you with where and when, or on what. We found quite few and they attacked like only a pike can. But for all of you that think pike eat with reckless abandon, you are wrong.  Simply put, you are wrong. They can be fickle and are as sensitive to water temps and fluctuating flows as the next fish. I can imagine how many anglers spent their day hoping for the big pay-off on the Bitterroot. Well, we found it.

Try white/red, yellow/red, olive/white/red, black/gold, red/orange. If you haven't figured it out by now, this ain't a "kiss and tell" blog. As far as we're concerned, disinformation might very well be the best information.

Montana Spring Fly Fishing Report-Rock Creek Salmonflies Forecast

 

"Just eat it!"

Skwala fishing was very good this spring. We saw plenty of action despite the almost daily snow storms.  The weather was tough but there were some very large trout taken on dries, beginning as early as March 10th. While there are still some great hatches on the Bitterroot, high water has interrupted the fishing. Think caddis and big mays if you go. The local rivers might come back in for a few days but it won't last long. 

   Rock Creek looks just about right for June.  Snow-pack levels are average which means that flows should come in about the 10th of the month. If you head out to the creek this week try a worm, price rr special.  I also think that there might be some good dry fly fishing in the afternoons. Check with Carolyn and John at the RC merc for accurate daily info.   406-825-6440

Mike O. from Cheese-land with RFO guide G.Pace.  These guys hit some of the coldest weather of the month but had pretty dang good fishing. We had several fish over the 20" mark over the four days that they fished. 

Typical weather this spring. The fishing didn't really suffer, though. We are already booking for next skwala season so keep it in mind. We had full schedules this spring and I expect the same for '14.  If you want to guarantee getting the best guides, book early. 

  

www.flyfishmissoula.com