August..

Hot dry weather continues and the Bitterroot river levels continue to drop and warm. Not the best conditions for trout and fly fisherman. However, what makes the Bitterroot unique is that Painted Rocks lake provides life giving cold water to the West fork and upper Bitterroot. The releases from Painted Rocks provide a good flow of cool water which makes it to Hamilton throughout hot summer months and into late September. the major hatches of summer have waned and given way to fishing with terrestrials. Spruce moths have been the hot fly on the West Fork bringing  up some nice fish during the day. Also on the West Fork and Bitterroot, grasshoppers are beginning to turn nice fish as well. We are still seeing a few Caddis in the evenings with rusty spinners and PMD’s in the morning. The upper river fishes well all day but if you chose to fish the lower Bitterroot get on the river early before water temps warm and put added stress on the fish. This time of year fly fishers are catching lots of small trout with the occasional big guy coming up.  Good luck and see ya on the river………………….   ~ ><(((*>