Fishing Report
Monday, Jul 11, 2011
It's Finally Summer Condions!!
Streams in SW Montana have finally dropped an cleared to where everything is fishable.
The Big Hole is dropping a couple hundred cfs per day and is in very nice shape. You will catch fish on a variety of things. Fish stone fly nymphs deep, try the typical bead heads like the copper john and prince. You should find some fish up on top looking for golden stones, yellow sallys and caddis. If you are a streamer fisherman you will want to fish the big stuff if you get afternoon cloud buildup.
The Beaverhead is coming alive with bugs. You should find yellow sally's, pmd's and caddis. If the dry fly fishing dies go to the small nymphs: micro mays, brassies, yellow sally nymphs, etc:
The Madison has salmon flies. The bugs are spread over a large area of the river. Big nymphs are consistently producing and the next couple of days you should see fish feeding on the adult salmon flies.
The Ruby below the reservoir is almos to fishable color. If you are up there try streamers.
Even the Jefferson is getting close to fishable shape. Once again you will have to fish wet. Nymphs and streamers.
The mosquito hatch is on almost all rivers. Have your repellant available! Good Luck
Tuesday, Jul 05, 2011
The end of Runoff
Southwest Montana is finally beginning to see the end of record snowmelt. Rivers in the Twin Bridges/Dillonn area are dropping and clearing.
The Beaverhead is fishing very well. Flows are at a very comfortable level and hatch activity heavy. You will find pmd may flies, yellow sallys and even some caddis. Plan on fishing a mixed bag of nymphs and dry flies. Traffic is heavy but beginning to thin out as the Big Hole becomes fishable again.
The Big Hole has finally come down to a level where it is practical to fish it. The River is still very high and caution is advised when floating. There are caddis and mayfly hatches on the river. Nymph, streamer and dry fly fishing are all effective depending upon weather. If you get overcast skies you should fish some streamers. With the bright, warm days we are currently experiencing you will want to fish nymphs. Watch for hatching caddis and may flies on these days and you will have a few hours of dry fly action.
The Madison remains high and off color. We would recommend that you wait a bit longer before giving the Madison a try.
The Jefferson too is still high and off color. When the Jeff finally clears and drops enough to be fishable we anticipate good summer fishing on the Jeff which is usually not the case.
Good Luck on the water. Be careful and enjoy yourself.
Wednesday, Jun 29, 2011
Runoff Report
Water Conditions are finally improving in SW Montana.
The Big Hole is dropping but still very high. Clarity is good and there are still salmon flies on the upper reaches of the river. If you are floating yourself be very careful. Rivers are always to be respected but at the high spring runoff flows you must be especially cautious. As the salmon flies begin to disappear for the 2011 season they will be replaced with caddis and golden stones.
The Beaverhead is in terrific shape. Flows are low to medium and the fishing very good with small nymphs. The usual beadhead patterns in sizes 16 to 20 will work well. PMD nymph imitations like the pheasant tail and split back will be effective fished deep with weight.
The Madison is still very high and off color. It may be another week or ten days before this river clears enough to be fishable. Salmon flies should begin to appear about the first week of July.
Clark Canyon Reservoir is picking up again.
Look at Poindexter slough for your spring creek experience.
Good Luck out there!!
Friday, Jun 24, 2011
Unusual conditions
It is June 24th and SW Montana is still fighting high water conditions.
Salmon Flies are on the Big Hole in the Divide Canyon however the river has come up again and gotten off color. Hopefully it will clear and drop a bit in the next few days. If you are thinking of floating the Big Hole without the assistance of a guide, be very careful. These flows require experienced boatmen. The power of a large river is not to be underestimated.
The Beaverhead remains very fishable with low flows and good clarity. We are primarily fishing small nymphs. Patterns like the micro may fly, split back nymph, lightening bug and phesant tail bead head all in sizes 16-20 will be effective. Fish with indicators and a fair amount of weight.
You probably should expect another week of high stream flows at least until a lot of the snow melt is over. Fishing choices are going to be limited.
Wednesday, Jun 15, 2011
Mid June Fishing
As most anglers know, Montana has had record snowpack and rainfall this winter and spring. The news around the country is that everything in Montana is flooding and that there is no fishing available. Fortunately in SW Montana we do have some quality fishing available.
The Beaverhead is a tailwater fishery which means it has a dam controlling the stream flows. From Clark Canyon Dam to Grasshopper Creek, the Beav is very fishable. It is primarily nymphs but if you get some overcast skies the fish will chase streamers. We are using a combination of San Juan worms and pmd nymphs with lots of weight under a strike indicator.
The Big Hole is very high and actually flooding on its lower end but if you are will to driver way up river towards Wisdom you will find fishable water. If you are floating you want to be exceptionally careful. The water clarity is very good up high and using nymphs and streamers you will catch fish. The stone fly hatch is close and that means patterns like the Pat's stone and Bitch Creek Nymph will be effective.
All the still water fisheries are in good shape. The Clark Canyon Reservoir and Ruby Reservoir offer good options in SW Montana when streams are high.
Hopefully we will begin to see a slacking off of snow melt and area rivers will round into summer shape in the next couple of weeks.
Good Luck