More Blackfoot

It seems this time of year I have fisherman that love the Blackfoot as much as I do. I love all the rivers but the Blackfoot is at its best as the waters lower and clear. All the rivers are fishing extremely well at this point with good dry fly fishing happening on every piece of water we guide around here. It is one of the three peak times for fishing in the Missoula area. The first is late March to Mid April, Now (mid June to mid July) is the second, and then Mid August through Sept. Now is also a very dynamic time as water is dropping fast and water temps are changing quickly. We have been using many techniques lately including the big streamers and nymph rigs but now the dry flies are king in my book. Salmon flies are still hanging on, Green Drakes are rocking on the cloudy days. PMDs, Grey Drakes, Caddis, and one of my favorites the golden stones are brining big fish to the surface. We will have two to three weeks of excellent hatches and fishing coming up. I only have a few unbooked days which is good cause I hate to miss great dry fly fishing.

Looking back on a weeks worth of fishing. We caught them on about everything. Some bright days the streamers and nymphs saved the day but on the cloudy ones many big fish were taken on top. Here are a few pics of what we have been seeing and catching.

Blackfoot Climbing Wall





Kathleen with a great fighting rainbow



Edgar with the biggest of the day



The Bull Trout numbers on the Blackfoot have steadily increased since I began guiding it 20 years ago. Thanks to major restoration of spawning habitat. I would start name the organizations and private individuals that got this done but I won't because I don't want to unintentionally leave anyone out. We catch them on everything these days, even dries and small nymphs. This one however fell for a classic steamer. Good Job Dan!!! Send me some pics of John so he doesn't feel left out.



One more big CutBow for good measure.



Will be hitting the Clarkfork and Bitterroot a bunch from now on so keep checking in to see how it is going.