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

406-544-3516

Spring Time Fishing in the Rockies

The spring skwala season has been going strong since mid-March.  It's been one of the most consistent hatches on record with cooler than average temps that have kept the rivers in shape and the trout looking up.

Bitterroot Cutthroat that fell for a dryfly

Picking off rising trout in a side channel

Double release

The weather has been challenging at times, with a couple of cold fronts that brought snow and lately some big winds.  The last two days have been perfect spring weather and we experienced the best skwala fishing of the season.  Nothing but a single dry fly from start to finish and more trout than we could count.

Missoula, Montana Fly Fishing Report for 3/18/2012



Scott's Dry Fly Brownie

The 2012 fishing season has finally arrived! It seems that our mild winter has been agreeable with the trout and, our fishing went from not much of anything to game on overnight.

On Wed. I got out with former guide and long time friend, Scott Timothy. We put in on the middle Bitterroot and the river was in great shape, clear with a decent flow. Scott was on fish right away with a dry/dropper rig and landed a couple nice bows righ across from the boat ramp. It wasn't long before Scott got his first dry fly eat on a Skwala, and then I landed my first Bitterroot trout of the year on a dry fly. We found a few rising fish just after lunch and I fooled a couple mid-size cuttbows on a blue-wing olive. Our fishing was solid all day with most of the fish coming on a dropper, but enough action on the dry to keep things interesting. Scott and I didn't fish too hard, it was just nice to be back on the water again with some decent weather as well.

Steve's 19.5" Bow

Logjam Rainbow

 Thur. was my first guide day of the year and I headed to the Osprey cabin on the lower Bitterroot to pick up 1/4 of the LaMosca club, Steve Duvall and his buddy Tom. I fished several years with Steve but this was to be my first float with Tom. Unfortunately Tom had to bail out and head back to NY, literally at the last minute. We had the boat in the water and I was rigging rods when Tom finally reached someone who could change his flight. We were lucky to get my shuttle driver to rush down and take Tom back to the cabin so he could make the flight. I'm glad it all worked out, but it was a shame that Tom missed the first really good dry fly day of the season. Steve had a couple dry fly eats right at the put-in and the action stayed steady all day. With stuck with a Swkala/dropper rig for most of our fishing and the ratio was probably 40/60, but there were a few spots where we ran a single dry and found fish. The trout are still holding in the slow water and virtually every little soft spot and back eddy we pulled into produced a fish or two. We caught some small fish, but our average was around 14", and we landed five trout that were 18" or better with the biggest at 19.5". One of the highlights of the day was a little foam spot that was surrounded by downed trees and branches. I told Steve to cast in there just for fun, knowing there was virtually no chance of landing a fish in that tangled mess. Steve came tight on a fish and I was hollering to try to horse him out of there and then I saw the fish on the surface. It was a big bow and I figured we were screwed, but Steve managed to keep him out of the wood and after making sure we wouldn't flip the boat I jammed it into a tight slot in the log jam. It was an impossible situation but we managed to land the 18.5" bow and keep from dying at the same time. The weather was perfect today, mostly cloudy mid-50's and calm. Steve caught a pile of fish and I look forward to seeing him and the rest of the boys later this fall.

Rainbow on a Skwala Dry

Fri. was my first of two days with Ryan Jack. Ryan typically comes out in the summer with his Dad, but he's getting married in about a month so he contacted me to see if there was any spring fishing to be had. I told him about the Skwala hatch and he jumped on the opportunity. It rained most of Thur. night and I was dreading pulling up the streamflows on the computer Fri. morning. Sure enough, the Bitterroot was coming up hard at Darby. I really wanted to put Ryan on some good fishing, after all this would be his last trip as a single man and I didn't want it to be a dud. I honestly didn't know what to do, I thought about running over to the Missouri for good nymph fishing, floating the lower Root where the river wasn't rising as bad, but in the end I went with my gut and we headed back to the middle Bitterroot where the fishing and bug life has been the best. The river was definitely up, but I breathed a sight of relief when we hooked our first fish within sight of the boat ramp. The morning fishing was decent as we found fish in the best water on a dry/dropper rig. The weather improved after lunch and the fish turned on as well. Again, slow water, back eddies, and inside bends were all consistent producers. For the first time this year we found a couple spots where fish were actively eating Skwala dries and we switched over to a straight dry in those spots and tagged some nice fish. Ryan landed browns, bows, and cutts with five or six in the 18-19" range. We had a good number of dry fly eats, but the ol' dirt snake is still pretty hard to beat. The worm produced consistently in most all the spots we put it in the afternoon. The fishing slowed down around 5 and we managed to find a couple more fish in the last hour before we got off the river. We had a great day, and I was even more amazed when I got home and saw that the river was rising hard all day long. The Bitterroot is typically a cold mistress on a rising tide but we managed to beat the odds and put a bunch of nice fish in the boat.

Ryan's 20" Bow

Sat. dawned cold and wet and I wondered if the river was looking to get even with us today. The upper river had nearly doubled in volume over the last 24 hours and I figured we would be in for a challenging day. We went a little further upstream today to try to find the best water for the conditions. It was cold and raining at the put-in and I wasn't sure what would be tougher, finding fish or just staying warm. The river had lost quite a bit of clarity and was definitely running harder than yesterday. After fishing a couple spots with a dry/dropper set-up I knew we needed the nymph rig for today. We made the switch and a couple runs later Ryan was tight to a 18" cuttbow. Another cutt came a short while later and I was a little more optomistic about our chances. The conditions were much worse today, but at lunch we had more fish in the boat than yesterday. Ryan was seining the river and no fish was safe, he even managed to tag a whitefish and the ultra-selective sucker. Our biggest failure came at lunch when we couldn't manage to get a fire going. Not even the "special sauce" floatant could help us get a flame going in those cold and wet conditions. Fortunately the rain tapered off and the temp came up just enough to make things borderline comfortable. We drilled a bunch of nice fish in the run where we ate lunch and the fishing was consistently solid all afternoon. We focused on specific water types and there weren't many spots that didn't produce. The dry fly fishing never materialized but it was hard to argue with a bent rod most of the time. Again we saw a mix of fish with a 17" brown and several bows and cutts in the 17"-18" range, and late in the day Ryan boated the first 20" bow of the season. The river seems really healthy this year. The proof is two great days of fishing despite conditions that could have easily produced catches in the single digits. Ryan is always fun to fish with and I'm glad that the Skwala hatch treated him well. I look forward to seeing him later this summer with his Dad.

We've dried out a little and the forecast for the next few days is cool with temps in the 40's. The river has levelled off and is back on the drop. We should be back to dry fly fishing in a couple days and the higher flows have shuffled the fish and there should be some big trout holding in vulnerable lies over the next week. It's great being back on the water. There's nothing quite like watching big trout eat big dry flies after a long, cold winter!

Tight Lines!

Storm's a Comin'

Storm clouds on the Root

Our first batch of nice weather finally made it to western Montana.  It was sunny and over 50 today with more mild weather on the way.  It's enough to make a guy itch to go fishing if I didn't already know better.  The spring Skwala hatch is the most anticipated event of the fishing season for those in the know.  Along with it comes a heavy dose of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 


The Good is that it's the first and possibly the best big bug fishing of the year.  There's not much better than watching big trout gobble dry flies after a long, cold winter and if you know the river, the hatch cycle, and the weather you can stay on solid fishing from mid-March all the way till the river blows in late April or May.  


The Bad is that this hatch has gained in popularity over the years and it's no secret anymore.  The best fishing and heaviest pressure is on certain sections of the Bitterroot forcing anglers and guides to adjust their strategies.  Instead of just fishing the best water at the best time of day you have to get creative with access and use a few other tricks to avoid the traffic.  


The Ugly is what is about to take place in the Bitterroot valley over the next 10 days or so.  With the recent good weather every cabin fever afflicted angler within a couple hundred miles is headed to the river.  Locals, guys from Washington, and MT plates from out East will all be spotted at access areas in the coming days.  It plays out like this almost every year.  Unfortunately, the fishing is just not that good yet.  It's ugly (and a little funny) because it turns into a crowded river with anglers hoping against hope for a fish to eat their dry and it's just not going to happen, at least not very often.  The downside is the increased pressure clues the fish into the fact that the game is on again.  The upside is that a bunch of frustrated anglers who showed up too early go home whining about the Skwala hatch saying that it doesn't exist and is just a bunch of b.s. put out by fly shops and guides to make money.  The crowds clear out and leave a less congested river for the rest of us.

Here's to the start of the of 2012 season.  There are a few fish to find right now, but things should really get rolling in another 10 days or so.....till then I'm steering clear of the storm.