Fresh Montana Fishing Reports

The evening temps have been on the chilly side in SW Montana, triggering the fall pre spawn streamer season. The Madison is giving up some really nice browns on streamers. Some on the strip and pause and some using an upstream cast and a little more dead drift with a good pump and a pause. Look for the usual targets. Hard banks, shelves and faster water. Fly color can make a difference as will size. If fish are following a stripped fly but wont commit will often smash a smaller fly. White is my go to color especially on brighter days but olive, copper, black and combos are must haves. Get in touch to book your fall streamer trip today!

The Yellowstone River is all anout the grasshoppers now that most of the big summer hatches are over. Aftetnoon temps are still in the high 80’s and thats keeping those hoppers happy and hoppering! Plop your hopper tight to the bank fishing fast seams , grassy banks and large downed cottonwoods. Make your hopper hot the water with a splashy plop as its one of the triggers for hopper hungry trout. Put some twitches in yoyr drift for the same reason. We like a mid to large hopper in tan , peach, purple so we can hang a dropper of the bend of the hook. Panty Dropper, CFO Ant, Skippy hopper, Streambank hopper im sizes # 6-10. Some productive droppers have been Psycho may in brown, Two Bit Hooker, Beadhead pheasant tail. So Get your fly tight to the banl and twitch it! Hang on!

The Yellowstone is fishing great even with the high summer temperatures. We’re starting to see the first hopper grabs but its not quite there. The Stoneflies are done and the hopper fishing is just getting going but we expect that to change soon. Right now our best fishing has been drifting streamers under an indicator with a small nymph behind it. Using some downstream mends and twitches to keep the streamer swimming with some drag on it. Big browns fall victim to this tactic regularly being the carnivores they are. Rabbit sculpins in natural and olive with a #16-20 beadhead nymph running 15” behind has been the hot ticket. Soft hackles are a great nymph patterns along with pheasant tails and caddis.

The Beaverhead PMD hatch is still going strong! Pale Morning Duns have been hatching between 9:30-10:30 depending on the temperatures. Large trout are stacked up in the riffles and buckets looking for PMD nymphs and emergers. Sight fishing now is fun! Nymphing a two fly rig is your best bet. We like nymphing with indicators but Euro nymphing works well too. Get your flies at the correct depth with plenty of weight and good mending. Watch your indicator closely and set the hook when it moves or goes under. Let the fish run and do its thing right after you set the hook then start working on gaining line and bringing the fish to the net! Good luck and Tight Lines!

The PMD hatch is in full swing on Missouri River right now and the trout looking up lying in wait for them to drift into their waiting mouths. The PMD or Pale Morning Dun is a mayfly species thats a pale yellowish olive color with a gray wing in a size # 14-18. They’ll start hatching at about 9:30-10:30 am and continue for a few hours to most of the day. The Missouri Rivers slick, spring creek like currents lend themselves to dry fly fishing. Look for dimples on the surface. These trout will often pod up in prime spots to feed very efficiently. Using the current to bring the food to them. Back eddys are a good place to find rising trout as the bugs go round and round like a lazy Susan. We find the fish will prefer a cripple pattern early in the hatch then the dun, followed by the spent spinner. Best dry flies. Sparkle Dun #14-18 Extended body parachute #14-18 Pull Over cripple #14-18 Limestone cripple #14-18 Organza spinner #14-18 Rusty spinner #14-18 Hi Viz spinner #14-18 If the fish aren’t rising, go with a short leashed leader with two flies. Tie your first fly on at about 3.5 to 4’ under an indicator and the second fly of the bend of the hook or a short tag. Mend often and set the hook when the indicator moves or goes under. Best nymphs: Pheasant Tail nymph #14-18 Split back brown #14-18 Barr emerger #14-18 Hunchback Infrequens #14-18 Contact us to book your Missouri River Fly Fishing Adventure!

Now that the ‘25 runoff has begun to wain, the Madison River is running a little lower than its historic flows for this time of year. Currently at 1280 cfs, historically more like 2-2500 cfs. Visibility is good with a very slight fuzz of color at about 2-3 feet. We’re right on the cusp of the famous Salmonfly hatch that will offer outstanding dryfly fishing! However many agree that the best fishing is just before the hatch. The fish have been feeding quite opportunistically subsurface on stonefly nymphs, caddis larva, San Juan worms and sculpins. We’re seeing the dry fly action pick up on Salmonflies, Goldens and Caddis. Target the spots with a color change which indicates a hole or bucket as we like to call it. Fish around the boulders front and back and dont be afraid to cast into really fast water. There are fish in spots that dont look like spots. You have to know what to look for so take time to observe and you’ll find yourself landing more and bigger fish! Contact us to book your dream fly fishing trip in Montana!