Rock Creek is damn near the only fishable water in the area right now. Well, not the only fishable water, but probably the best. With everything else blown out with high flows, the Rock is staying pretty stable. Flows have come up this past week, but seem to have stabilized for the moment. Even though […]
Al the Pal
A very good friend of mine perished in a freak accident on the Bitterroot River Wednesday afternoon. Dick Galli, a vibrant 72, was a very well respected Hamilton shop owner, rod builder, and friend to the community and rivers. Dick was almost always energetic, honest, refreshingly direct, and took great pains to treat everyone who […]
Given the warmer temps and the rains of the past few days the Clark Fork has been on the way up pretty much throughout its Montana based course; the lower river has experienced increased flows at a more impressive rate that the upper river over the past few days. Feeling lucky today? Try the upper […]
After some high water last week, the Blackfoot has really bounced back. Flows dipped back down, and are currently at a hair over 3,300 cfs. They are slightly on the rise, and with the warm weather this week could come up quite a bit. Visibility on the Blackfoot is over two feet, some of my […]
Bitterroot River Fly Fishing Report 5 May 2009: Still Fishing, Should Have Been Here Two Days Ago…..
It’s time once again for the spring time river flow roller coaster to take us all on the wild ride we know all too well this time of year. Over the weekend flows were down after the cooler week and the river was fishing incredibly well – a strong nymph and streamer morning, followed by […]
Wow, where is the year going? It seems like 2009 just started and already it is May! When you get to be my age, you appreciate and notice these things much more, trust me. What better way to bring in a new month than a day out on the water? Rock Creek is doing much, […]
I find myself up a bit early today (meeting with a business partner in Missoula for breakfast), just off the phone with my lawyer daughter, and thinking a bit more positively about the Clark Fork today. My daughter swears that her most fishable combo last year at this time was a purple bugger with a […]
What a difference a couple of days of cooler weather can make. After being blown much of last week and weekend, flows are dropping and the river’s clearing, at least above Hamilton. The flow graph is pretty impressive actually…. From what I’ve heard in the past twenty-four hours, there still might be a Skwala or […]
This report will be short and sweet – the Blackfoot blew out last week and is slowly dropping. One guy told me there was maybe 2 feet of visibility yesterday higher up; another guy told me whoever said that is a jackass. I guess it could drop and clear enough to make for reasonable nymphing […]
The Beaverhead has been fishing well this past week. The river is starting to discolor somewhat, mainly from the discharge of Grasshopper Creek. Visibility is still in the very fishable range, and should only improve with the cooler weather this week. Flows came up quite a bit earlier in the week, but are back to average […]
I have some bad news my friends. Rock Creek is blown out. She is currently flowing at almost 2,000 CFS, and is full of mud. The hot weather this past week really brought down a lot of melt. Rock Creek is almost always the first river in the area to blow out and among the […]
Not much to even talk about for the Clark Fork today; she’s blown above and below Missoula – basically the entire system. Flows above Missoula are pushing 9000 cfs this morning and still climbing; today’s average flow is 4360 cfs. The debatable point is whether or not this flush is due to the low and […]
After a nadir in flows last week on the 17th, flows are zooming back up. In fact, though there’s cooler weather coming later this week and weekend, I have that feeling in my aging bones that we’re looking at the beginning of the genuine runoff on the Bitterroot. I’m sure not everyone will agree with that […]
The window of opportunity to fish the Blackfoot is now!! If you had planned to fish the river this spring, you better get out today or tomorrow. The warm weather this week will bring flows up and visibility down for some time. Flows peaked on Friday, and have been dropping since then. Visibility is between […]
The Beaverhead has had a pretty good week. Flows were up earlier last week, and the river was running a little but off color. The area around Clark Canyon Creek seemed to be the dirtiest. Flows are starting to pick up a little bit as of now, as the snow melts with the warmer weather. […]
