Sunday, July 28, 2013

Fishing Report for the week of 7/28/2013

HOOT OWL fishing restrictions are now in effect on the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers, and likely on the Blackfoot soon.  These restrictions mean no fishing from 
2pm til midnight.  This is meant to protect trout during the higher water temps during late afternoon, and is in-line with our current fishing program.  We have been meeting early, 5-6 a.m. and noticed a drop off in the fishing around 2 even before the restrictions were in place.  The early alarm clock isn't ideal, but the fishing has still been solid.

It was a busy week at MTO so this is one of the longer fishing reports....

Mon. was the first of three days with Pasadena Fly Fishing Club member Jim, and his friend from Texas, Dale.  Since this was Jim and Dale's first trip to Missoula I wanted to be able to show them the area and put them on some of the best fishing around.  I chose a stretch of the Bitterroot with a nasty diversion dam since I knew not many boats had been in there lately.  We started with a dry dropper rig and had a few strikes in the first couple runs before connecting with our first trout of the day.  It was a little guy and so was the next one, but then the trout started to get a little better and a nice log jam produced a big fish for Jim on the dropper.  After a good fight he had the big 18" hook-jawed cuttbow in the net.  While Jim was landing that fish I noticed another fish rise so we dropped Jim off to wade fish the run below and I set Dale up with a single hopper to go after the riser.  It took a few casts to get the fly into a tough spot but when it finally drifted through a nice cutthroat hammered the dry.  The next logjam produced an even bigger cuttbow around 17" on the hopper before we pulled over to wade fish a sidechannel.  It was nice to get out of the boat but we only moved a couple smaller fish on dries so it was time to head downstream.  We stuck with small hoppers for the rest of the morning and raised fish in the right spots.  The best fish of the day was a 19" bow that Dale nailed tight to another logjam.  The Root is low right now so you only get one shot at dry fly fish which is why we went back to the dry/dropper rig in the afternoon and the action picked up for us.  All the runs produced fish on the dropper in the afternoon, and the best one gave up 4 or 5.  It was a decent average size too with most of the fish in the 13-15" range and a few smaller and a few up to 16" in the afternoon.  Once I portaged the diversion dam the river lost a lot of it's depth and we switched back to a single hopper.  The guys landed a couple and hooked a few more on the way to the take out.  We didn't see another boat fishing on the water and it was a nice day to be out.
The Release

Jim wade fishing the Bitterroot

Tue. I met the guys really early for a run up to the canyon of the Blackfoot.  We were the first boat in the water and Jim didn't waste anytime hooking a great rainbow only a couple minutes into the float.  A 17" fish is always a great way to start the day and we were off to the races from there.  I kept the boat moving early on, but the guys hooked fish out of nearly every spot we stopped to fish until we got into the Munchmore hole.  In the run above that I had seen a few spruce moths bouncing around and I hoped there would be enough to get the fish looking up.  We anchored in the hole to change our flies and I saw enough rising fish to know it would be good.  Dale was first up and it only took a handful of casts before he connected with a nice cutthroat on the dry.  Jim was next and he came tight on a really big and brightly colored cutt in the 18-19" range.  The guys continued to take turns over the next 45 minutes or so and kept hooking nice fish on dries.  We stayed with double dry fly rigs after leaving that run and the fishing was nothing short of fantastic.  Every run produced a fish or two and most were quality sized trout on dry flies.  It was some of the best spruce moth fishing I've seen and the guys were in heaven.  The beauty of the canyon and nice dry fly eating trout is a hard combination to beat.  After lunch we floated out of the canyon and the spruce moth bite faded so we went back to the dry/dropper rig.  The fishing tapered off from the pace we set in the morning, but it was still solid and the good runs were producing fish, mostly smaller in the afternoon but a few bigger fish as well.  Near the end of the day Dale hooked up on a nice fish at a creek mouth and it turned out to be a 17" bull trout which gave him a slam for the day, a cutthroat, rainbow, brown, and bull trout all in one day.  Both Jim and Dale remarked toward the end of the float that this was the finest day floating a river they've ever had.  That's high praise for the Blackfoot and the spruce moth hatch.
Dry fly cutthroat

Wed. was my last day with Jim and Dale and we headed to the upper Bitterroot and cold water today.  We started with a dry/dropper rig again and there was plenty of action right out of the gate.  Fish were eating both the dry and the dropper, and Dale got of to a hot start with the first few fish including a bright 17-18" cuttbow.  Then Jim popped a jumping 15" brown out from behind a root ball and the action continued at a steady pace from there.  We did stop in a couple places in the morning and fished single dries to rising fish.  The first spot yielded 3 cutts for Dale and Jim turned a number of heads just downriver.  We toyed with some straight dry fly rigs in both the morning and afternoon but they weren't producing as consistently as the dry/dropper rig.  The guys had 3 or 4 doubles today and there was a good mix of trout.  We caught a few browns, the best a 17" beauty by Dale, a few rainbows, and lots of cutts and cuttbows.  There were some smaller trout, but it was a good average today with most of the fish in the 12-14" range and several in the 15-18" class.  By 1 o'clock the fishing tapered off in the heat.  We caught a few more on our way to the take out but our best action was definitely earlier in the day.  It was a good introduction to Missoula for Jim and Dale.  Despite the warm weather we had 2 great days of fishing and one day that was decent.  They're both terrific guys and I had a lot of fun.  And they're already talking about a return trip next year.
Trapper Peak in the full moon
Dale's Bitterroot Brown
Thur. I fished with returning anglers Paul and Ryan.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to get back up to the canyon of the Blackfoot and hit the spruce moth hatch again.  The day started off great with 3 fish in the first two runs.  It was all dropper fish early and we moved fast, just hitting the best runs and most of those gave us a trout.  When it seemed like the time was right, I switched the guys over to double spruce moths and on Paul's first cast he came tight to a nice cutthroat.  There weren't a lot of moths yet but fish were still rising to the fly in the right spots until we pulled in the Munchmore hole.  There were lots of fish eating in there and Ryan connected with two quick cutts in the 15-16" range.  They got a little harder to feed after that but we still got a few more strikes before moving on.  The rest of the morning was simply awesome dry fly fishing.  Early on there were lots of smaller trout attacking the fly with a few good ones mixed in, but as the morning continued the size of the fish just got better and better.  There were lots of fish from 14-18" through the canyon with some great visual eats.  Paul rested for a bit and Ryan absolutely beat on the trout through the bottom of the canyon. Then when Paul got back in on the action we had back to back  doubles in a good run and Paul hooked several big fish out of one fast canyon wall run.  Once we got out of the canyon we switched to hoppers and moved a couple fish before pulling into the shade for lunch.  The afternoon shift was decent, we caught some fish and a couple of nice ones but we definitely had to work harder compared to the easy morning fishing.  Eventually around 2 things shut off completely and since there were plenty of fish to boat today we headed for the ramp.  
Colers of Summer in Montana
Blackfoot double with Paul

Fri. it was groundhog day with Ryan and Paul.  After the fishing we witnessed yesterday we had to go straight back to the Blackfoot.  The early fishing was similar with dropper fish, although we did get a couple on the big dry fly including an awesome brown by Paul in the 17-18" range.  Just a little while later Ryan got a bull trout on the dropper so in the first hour we had all four main species to the boat.  We made the switch to spruce moths and started raising fish right on cue again.  There was a little more traffic on the river today which changed our game plan a bit, but not much.  Again, it was lots of smaller fish early with small to medium cutts and bows all over the dry flies and as we got lower in the canyon the fish got bigger.  The entrance run to the canyon gave up four cutts for Ryan and there were a couple of nice troughs that produced some big fish including a 20" cuttbow that Ryan tagged at the end of his drift.  Not long after that Ryan fished the spot where Paul tagged some good ones yesterday and he came tight on three nice fish including another fat cuttbow in the 18" range.  There were some big fish on the hunt today and the guys found some of them.  The early dry fly fishing was fairly similar to yesterday, but our afternoon fishing held up a little better with plenty of action on small hopper patterns.  There were lots of smaller fish after the fly, but enough bigger trout to keep things interesting.  Toward the end of the float we got beat up by boat traffic a little, but by then everyone was worn out and ready to head home.  Paul and Ryan are always a pleasure to fish with.  They love coming out to Montana and they are usually rewarded with some pretty good fishing.  I hope to see them again next year.

Big cuttbow on the dry fly
Bigger cuttbow on the dry!
Sun. was another father/son day on the river and today it was with first time fly anglers John and Slade.  John had some work to do in Seattle and on his way back through Montana he wanted to get his 10 year old son out for his first fly fishing experience.  I love taking kids fishing and I had a great time with Slade in the boat today.  They're the future of the sport and the more we get involved the better fly fishing will be.  We met early and headed up the Blackfoot.  I was a little concerned when I showed up at the boat ramp and there were 4 other boats already putting in.  I decided against fishing with everyone else and we kept driving further up river.  Once the boat was in the water I went over the basics with Slade, casting, mending, stripping line, and setting the hook and gave a little refresher to John too.  I started Slade with a single nymph and John with a dry/dropper rig.  In the first run Slade set the hook on a nice fish and was briefly connected.  The fish was headed north and Slade was pulling south and the trout won.  It all happened so fast, on Slade's third or fourth cast, that we needed a big dose of luck there because he was just getting used to everything and the fish got away.  The guys were kind of feeling things out and we had a few strikes before John connected with the first few fish of the day.  The first two were whitefish before a small rainbow  came boatside.  At that point I started to see some spruce moths bouncing around and I switched Slade over to a single dry and took him over to a rock wall.  Only a couple casts into the run a brown trout came up and ate the dry.  After a good fight Slade had his first fly rod fish landed.  I switched John up to a spruce moth and we fished single dries for the rest of the day.  There was lots of action from that point on.  A good number of smaller cutts and bows were looking for the fly and some better fish too.  Both John and Slade connected with a few cutts in the 13-14" range and near the end of the float Slade stuck a pretty 16" cutthroat on a dry fly.  It was a great day on the water.  We had the river to ourselves, trout were eating dry flies, and it was good enough that even Slade lost count of how many fish he actually caught.  I fished with a lot of kids over the years and I can't think of another 10 year old who stayed as focused over the course of the day and who caught on to fly fishing as quickly as Slade.  John did well too, he was the perfect father/angler.  He fished where he could, kept the emphasis on Slade, and managed to catch some nice fish in the process.  I think Christmas may involve some fly fishing gear under the tree for this family.
Slade with a great cutthroat...take a kid fishing, it's good for the soul!
We also had several other groups out this week fly fishing around Missoula.  Doug Jones, member of the Orange County fly fishing club, brought a group out including his brother, Chris, and Charles and John.  This was their first trip to the Missoula area and they got the grand tour of all three rivers, the Bitterroot, Blackfoot, and Clark Fork with guides Erik and Chris.  They had a good time and caught some nice fish.  Some of the boys did best on the Bitterroot while some caught more on the Blackfoot, and the Clark Fork produced some good ones as well.  I think this crew really enjoyed the town of Missoula and the diversity of the rivers, and I hope to see them out again.
Chris with a Bitterroot brownie
Doug's big cutthroat
Joel and Larry were also out from Florida with guide, Evan for three days in Missoula.  Both anglers were fairly new to fly fishing, but they had a great attitude and were just looking to enjoy Montana.  They fished the Clark Fork on day 1 and found some of those big, hard-fighting cuttbows and then spent two days on the Blackfoot taking in the great scenery and hooking up on some awesome trout.  These guys had a solid introduction to Missoula and a killer fishing trip.

Larry's big Clark Fork cuttbow
Holy Hog!!  Biggest fish of the week, Joel's 21" Blackfoot cuttbow
Anglers Ellie and Andrea were over from Seattle for the day with guide, John, up in the canyon of the Blackfoot.  These great ladies were sent to me by friend, Matt who requested John and the canyon to show them the best time possible.  The report from John was a solid day of fishing with spruce moths and hopper/dropper rigs including a couple big trout in the 18" range.  John had the gals in stitches all day with his famous one-liners but unfortunately he didn't take any pics so I'll see if I can track any down from Ellie or Andrea next week.

Another solid week of fly fishing around Missoula.  The game has changed to early meet times, but I guess I'll sleep in the winter.  The weatherman says we have some cooler weather on the horizon and that should help immensely.  Hoppers and ants are starting to make an appearance too and those terrestrials will keep fish looking up.  Looking forward to another week on the water.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Fishing Report for the week of 6/30/2013

Mon. I was back out with Brian and Bridger the trout dog, and we were also joined by Brian's friend Bruce.  The weather was a little dicey with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast so we chose to stay close to home on the Bitterroot around Hamilton.  That choice was fine with me after the fishing yesterday and I was looking for another all day dry fly affair.  We started with double dries and it didn't take long for Bruce to connect with the first fish of the day.  The action was fairly steady in the morning with mostly smaller and medium sized cutts and cuttbows coming to the dry.  There weren't many bugs around early so I was hoping a hatch would get the fish fired up.  We pulled up into a side channel to look for some fish and with no rises Bruce ended up sticking a few on a dropper.  We took a break for lunch there and while we were eating a few PMDs started coming off and some heads showed.  Brian set off on foot with the dry fly rod and fooled a few in short order including the biggest fish of the day.  It was a big cutt in the 18-20" range but it ended up foul hooked on the double dry rig and I forced the issue a little to get the trout in quickly and it broke off.  After getting back to the main river I still wasn't seeing the number of bugs I wanted so I switched the guys over to a dry/dropper rig.  That's one of the surest things to get the fish up and rising, and not five minutes after that a fish ate Bruce's dry and the Green Drakes started coming off.  It was back to the dry fly rig for us and the fellas started raising more fish.  It was busy in the afternoon and our average size got a little better too.  A couple of browns came to the net, but it was still mainly cutthroat and bows with most from 12-15" and a nice 17" cuttbow that Brian landed toward the end of the float.  We had a couple of storms around us mid-day, but nothing too terrible and for the most part it was pleasant weather.  Another great day on the Bitterroot with a couple of good guys and the best boat dog around,.

The Release


Tue. I fished with long-time anglers Bob and John on Rock Creek.  The creek is low right now and a pain to get down, but Bob and John love it and it has been fishing well.  Today was nothing short of spectacular.  These guys have been fishing the Creek in June for over 20 years and both said it was the finest day of fishing on Rock Creek they've ever had.  We fished single dries all day and the action was non-stop.  We started with golden stones in the morning for an hour or so and then switched to green drakes for the balance of the day.  Rock Creek is usually busy with fish and many days it can be a lot of small fish with a few nice ones mixed in.  What separated today was the size of the fish.  There were a lot of trout in the 12-15" range with a bunch to 16" and even a few 17" fish too.  A conservative guess would put the number of doubles at 20 and there were many runs where we landed 6 or 7 or more trout.  At one point we had three cutthroat in the net at the same time.  The guys had doubled and I netted both fish.  I got the hook out of Bob's and before I could unhook John's fish Bob had another one boatside.  I think they ended up with 5 fish out of that one spot.  It was the kind of fishing everyone dreams about.  If you put your fly in a spot that looked like it would hold a fish, then one would gobble it.  It's really quite hard to describe the fishing I witnessed today.  It was a blast out there with good friends.

Rock Creek Triple!!  Don't see that very often

Wed. was a day with Bitterroot valley locals Dick and Jim.  The weather was perfect, cloudy and warm, and I thought we would find great mayfly hatches on the Bitterroot around Hamilton.  The day started fairly normal with a couple fish eating the dry in the first few runs and I thought we were right on track.  I pulled up a side channel that had been very productive over the last week and it only produced one mid-sized cutthroat on a dropper.  There just weren't many bugs around and as the day continued we never really experienced a hatch.  There were a few PMDs and a few Green Drakes, and we did catch some fish today, but the action was nothing like the past week and it was mostly smaller cutthroat and browns.  Jim did manage to land a few really nice cutts and cuttbows up to 16" but it was hard work.  There was a short period in the afternoon when it looked like things might break loose.  Some bugs started to pop and we had a number of eats and a few fish to the boat in only a couple runs, but then the bugs faded and we went back to working for our fish.  We had a great time on the river today, and these guys have fished enough that they know sometimes it's tough.  It still doesn't make it any easier for me...I hate tough fishing and even though this was my first "off" day since high water I'm itching to get back out there and see a bunch of bent rods.

Jim throwing tight loops

Thur. Bob and I headed up to float the canyon on the Blackfoot.  Have you ever had one of those days when things just wouldn't go your way?  It happens in our personal lives, our business lives, and despite our best attempts it even happens in our fishing lives.  It happens to me when I'm fishing and I see it from the rowers seat every year.  I usually depict it through rose colored glasses in the fishing report, but Bob is such a great friend and good sport I thought I would write about it a little.  It was a tough day of fishing for Bob, one of those days.  It's important to know that Bob is one of the finest fly fisherman I've ever had in my boat, so I don't doubt his skill or ability.  We've had incredible fishing together and 'we've had our butts kicked too, but I'd never seen it quite like today.  Overall the fishing was decent today, not great but about what I expected for the first bright sunny day in over a week.  We started off with streamers and the fish weren't really on the chase.  Bob had 5 or 6 grabs, a couple follows, and finally connected with a rainbow.  It wasn't really happening on the streamer so we switched over to a dry/dropper rig.  It didn't take long to get some action and it was on a mix of the dries and droppers with most of the activity on the nymph.  The only problem was that just about every fish fell off the hook.  Near as I could tell it was just bad luck because I couldn't see any errors in technique.  What really hurt was that all the good trout came unbuttoned.  Despite all that we did manage to catch some fish.  It was mostly small and medium sized cutts and bows....and whitefish.  It didn't matter what dropper we fished, Mr.Whitey was on the hunt today.  Of course, they all stayed hooked up.  Toward the end of the day Bob found his groove again and connected with three nice fish in a row, including the biggest cutthroat at 17".  It is definitely frustrating when you are going through one of those days, but Bob never lost sight of the big picture and we did have a great day.  The weather was stunning, cobalt blue skies with white puffy clouds and bright green grass against the orange walls of the canyon.  Fish will come and go, but days spent on Montana streams are always priceless.    

Floating into the canyon

Fri. I was back out with Bob and today we were joined by Marcelo.  The guys were looking for dry fly fishing so we headed to the lower West Fork and I crossed my fingers that the second day of sunshine would bring more surface activity.  We started with double dries in the morning and the action was hit and miss.  We found some fish on the surface but after several fly changes I still didn't feel like we had it dialed.  Then we pulled back up in a run that had several rising fish and spent a good deal of time getting frustrated.  I don't know how many times we changed flies but the guys put a bunch of different patterns of those fish with no success.  I was ready to pull my hair out when Marcelo dug into his own fly box and pulled out a couple of bugs he tied.  After a couple of drifts he was tight to a nice cutthroat.  He tagged one more while I scrambled to borrow another bug from him and get it on Bob's line.  A few shots for Bob and he had a cuttie in the net.  Marcelo's bugs saved the morning for us and after that it was pretty steady action on his mayfly pattern.  Shortly before lunch I sent him up a side channel where he found some rising fish and connected with three nice cutts with the biggest a fat 17" fish.  While we were eating all of us started noticing the golden stones flying around.  The robins were picking them out of the air and I was hoping the trout would be on the too.  We changed to a golden after lunch and it was instant affirmation when Bob raised two fish in the first run.  The balance of the day was pretty awesome with healthy fish coming out of all the good looking spots.  The guys had a bunch of doubles and no shortage of pretty cutts in the 13-16" with several in the 17" class.  We found a few bows and browns too, but it was mainly a cutthroat day on bushy golden stone patterns.  I love goldens on the upper Bitterroot and it looks like now is finally the time.

West Fork dry fly fish

Sat. I fished with Stan and Jim who've been coming out to Missoula for over 10 years now to fly fish.  They were with fellow guide, John a couple days ago on the Bitterroot so I thought we should take a shot at the Blackfoot today.  We got an early start to avoid the weekend traffic and beat the heat.  The morning was tough duty.  I changed flies a lot, and we fished everything from dry/droppers, double dries, to full on nymph rigs and we only had a couple small trout and a few whitefish to the boat.  Those Blackfoot trout were grumpy and I had my fingers crossed that the afternoon would produce.  Some nice cloud cover rolled in for the afternoon and while the river didn't light up for us, the fish did get more active.  The guys found a bunch of smaller trout on dries and a couple of good ones including a cuttbow that was pushing 20" that Jim boated.  There was a good yellow sally hatch and I thought the bugs and clouds would get some big fish up on the surface but eventually I changed back to dropper rigs to try and find a better class of trout.  It wasn't fast paced action, more of a steady pace but we did find some nice 12-15" bows and cutts on the dropper and had a few bigger fish take a swing at the dry flies.  It was a beautiful day in the canyon, the clouds kept the temps reasonable and the fishing was fair.  I would've like to have seen a little more action, but the trout always have the final say on that one.  

Hard earned treasure on the Blackfoot

Sun. I was back out with Jim and Stan and we set off for some dry fly fishing on the upper Bitterroot.  We launched all by ourselves with single dry flies and raised a few fish early on.  There was decent action for the early morning, but things got interesting when we pulled into a great run to spend some time.  I rigged up a rod with double dries and the next hour or so was simply perfect.  The guys took turns with the rod and we were never more than a few minutes without a fish on.  They were all nice cutthroat and cuttbows including a 19" fish by Stan and a 19.5" cuttbow that Jim landed.  We must have landed at least 15 in that one run before it was finally time to move on.  After an early lunch we got ready for the golden stone hatch and the guys were not disappointed.  It was steady action the rest of the way with lots of fish coming to the single dry.  In the afternoon there were a bunch of smaller fish on the hunt from 10-13", but we also landed more than our share of nice trout in the 14-17" range.  It was a great way to end the trip with a couple of the nicest guys I know.  They're already making their reservations for next year so I look forward to seeing them then.

Stan was having so much fun he forgot to smile with this big cuttie


It's been an awesome June and the great fishing will continue into July.  Golden stones are coming out in force these days and it should be another good week of dry fly fishing in western Montana.  I love my job.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt