4th of July !

The Bitterroot is in great shape and continues to fish well. Abundant hatches and good water conditions make this one of the best times of year for dry fly fishing. Sporadic rains and cool weather is keeping water temps down and the entire river from Painted rocks to Missoula fishing. Happy Independence Day !
Hatches:
PMD #14-16
Brown Drake #12-14
Green Drake # 8-10
Golden Stone # 8-14
Bitterroot Stone #14-16
Yellow Sally #14-16
Tan Caddis #12-14

Spring fishing.

The Bitterroot river is finally on the drop again thanks to some below average temperatures over the last few days. A week ago it looked like the runoff was underway, but spring has thrown us another curve. This drop in flows has given us another shot at some decent fishing. There are still plenty of Skwala’s emerging on the river as well as good numbers of may flies.Water temperatures have dropped as well so the best dry fly action is afternoon. You can catch some fish on nymphs before the hatches start but I’ve found fish don’t eat much at all on the cold mornings. While the river is on the drop and clear it is still running quite fast. When wading look for the softer, slower runs, and side channels… If you choose to float please be cautious in these challenging conditions and consider wearing a life jacket. A lot of wood has moved since the last push of water and some channels have changed. Particularly Hannon – Wally. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 60’s by Friday , which should get the bugs and fish moving… This may be our last weekend of good dry fly fishing until June. Be safe and have fun.

Hatches:

Skwala #8-10
Nemoura #14-16
March Brown #12-14
Gray drake #10-12
BWO #16-20
Midges #18- 20

Bitterroot fishing improving.

The river ice has melted off the main river in the last 2 weeks and the Bitterroot is finally fishable. Most if not all of the action has been had by fishing nymph rigs. Large numbers of Skwala nymphs are staging along the edges of the river waiting for warmer temperatures to emerge. Water temps are barely reaching 40 degrees in the afternoon preventing much of a hatch. Dry fly action should improve over the week. Until then fish deep in the slower runs to get hooked up. Water levels should remain stable as long as we don’t get a big warm up. Dry fly fishing is right around the corner.