High Water!
The warm weather has finally caught up to us. The Bitterroot is running high and off color and I think it is safe to say that the runoff has begun. That said , this should be a relatively short run off.. Due to a warm and dry late winter and early spring there is less snow in the mountains then normal. At last check, snowpack in the Bitterroot is about 65% of average for this time of year. That means if we don’t get rain we will have lower stream flows throughout summer. Depending on how the remaining snow comes off the Bitterroot could be fishing by late May and most probably early June.. Fortunately we have stored water in Painted Rocks lake which will be released through summer to help flows and fish. If you plan on fishing now its mostly subsurface with nymphs and streamers in the slower runs.. There are may flies, caddis, and skwalas out on the river but it might be hard to find risers under these conditions. The tail water rivers like the Missouri are a great option in May.