Although its still snowing in the mountains good spring fishing is just around the corner. We have had a fairly mild winter in the valley so the fish are in great shape and have been active. The Skwala nymphs have begun staging along the banks of the Bitterroot and can be found in shallow water. Trout are already keying on them and there have been reports of good nymph fishing on the milder days. Nymphs and streamers fished low and slow have been getting most fish but occasionally you can take fish on dry midges. Fishing should continue to improve as spring approaches and I expect consistent dry fly action by the second week of March. See ya on the river soon………

Last week we saw a big change in the weather with cooler temps and some much needed rain. This change in weather has triggered the may fly hatches to come on in good numbers.. Large numbers of Trico’s are coming off in the morning and providing some challenging fishing with tiny flies.. The Hecuba ( fall drake ) are showing up and fish are looking for them late morning through afternoon. Some nice fish are coming up for our imitations even if they are not seen rising. Although I have not seen many Mahogany’s, imitations of the fly are working very well. If you cannot find rising fish on the sunny warm afternoons, switch to a hopper which caught us some very big fish this week. The good dry fly fishing should last well into October….See ya on the river……………… ~ ><(((*>

The first day of summer is less than a week away and we are still waiting for the rivers to drop.. The million dollar question is when will the rivers peak and come into shape for fishing. The Bitterroot river is flowing about twice normal volume for this time of year. While I have heard rumors of people fishing the river it is ill advised and extremely dangerous. Most of my late June customers have rescheduled their trips to July and August. I am guessing the river should come into shape by the 1st week of July. When it does Salmon flies should be out and provide some of the 1st great dry fly fishing of summer. Until then I will continue to tie flies and keep evereyone updated on river conditions.