Bitterroot shaping up!

After a long period of high water the Bitterroot is clear and dropping. Warm dry weather over the last month has helped bring a bunch of mountain snow down. There is still a good amount of high elevation snow that should keep the river flowing all summer. Salmon flies have begun to appear on the main river and should be about 1 to 2 weeks away on the east and west forks. Fish are seeing lots of the big nymphs migrating to the banks and are feeding aggressively on them. There are also some golden stones , pmd’s , and green drakes. There is very little surface activity and the majority of fish are being caught on nymph patterns fished in the slower runs.. As water levels continue to drop dry fly action should pick up significantly. While the river is dropping it is still quite high and above normal levels for this time of year. Please use caution if wading or floating. The high water has moved a lot of debris around and there are several trees blocking passage on the east and west forks. Wear life jackets and when in doubt scout it out. See ya on the river……….

Bitterroot River on the rise!

While the warm weather of the past week got the skwala’s hatching and fish rising it also has the river rising.  We were starting to see some of the most consistent dry fly action of the spring. However, it doesn’t take much heat to get the water rising with a snowpack of 163%… There isn’t much if any dry fly action currently and if you want to catch fish the best method is fishing nymphs and streamers deep in the slower softer runs.. If the weather cools , the river could stabilize and drop. This scenario would give us another window of dry fly opportunity. The  chances of this are not great as air temperatures are moving up as we move into spring. The tailwater rivers ( Missouri, Beaverhead) are another option when local freestone rivers are high and colored. I’ll update the report as conditions change… See ya on the river….

Skwalapalooza Starting!

The Skwala hatch has been delayed a bit this year due to cold water temps… Seems like the hatch is about a week or 2 behind… The lower river below Hamilton is your best bet to find adult Skwala’s emerging and hungry trout rising… The big bugs haven’t made much of a showing on the upper river yet but that should change this week. The river is in great shape and with mild temps and no rain forecast for the foreseeable future, I am expecting the best dry fly fishing of the season to start as we enter April. Other hatches on the river are the smaller dark stones (Capnia, Nemoura) I have yet to see any of the spring may flies but they should come on in about a week. The best dry fly fishing is afternoon as the bugs get moving, if you are out before that try dropping a skwala nymph 18″ below your dry. See ya on the river………

Happy New Year!

I haven’t been doing much fishing lately but the skiing sure is great. Bitterroot snowpack is slightly below normal and we are getting heavy snow in the mountains today. It’s early yet but the hope is this pattern continues and leaves us with more water in the rivers this year. If you are into winter fishing, some folks are catching fish on nymphs fished slow and deep.. Stay warm………

Fall is here!

After a long hot summer and early fall the weather has finally turned more fall like. While all local rivers are low they are still in good shape and fishable. Fishing restrictions have been lifted for weeks and water levels are rising while temps are dropping.. The fish are also responding to these changes. Cooler water temps trigger fish into feeding more as winter approaches. Mayfly hatches are becoming more abundant as well. There are still Trico’s and Hecuba’s and the Mahogany duns and BWO’s are coming on strong in the cooler wetter weather. Dry fly fishing has been good with the cloudy weather. On the sunnier days Trico’s still emerge in the morning until mid day and there are still plenty of hoppers around on the warm afternoons. See ya on the river…….    ~ ><(((*>

Late summer update!

Hot weather and low water has been the name of the game lately. a lower then normal snowpack and early runoff has put a damper on river levels.The Bitterroot and other local rivers are running below average levels and water  temps are up on the lower river. FWP has imposed fishing restrictions on the Bitteroot and Clark Fork rivers. Fishing is allowed from midnight until 2pm after 2 no fishing.. This is to reduce mortality on fish already stressed by high temperatures.. The West and East forks have no restrictions and are fishing well.. The name of the game for flies has been attractors and terrestrials  hoppers , beetles , ants , and spruce moths.. While river levels are lower than average the river is still floatable and Painted rocks lake is 90% full which should provide cold flows throughout September.. We received a good rain last night that bumped the river up a bit. Late summer hatches (Trico, Hecubas )aren’t far off and with nights getting cooler and longer we should turn the corner soon.. See ya on the river…..