I’ve got to agree this morning with my friends at the Kingfisher shop in Missoula – when you look at water temps, the Bitterroot has had the advantage over other waters in the area for most of the week. The warming weather and rain due over the next several days should produce some fine fishing […]
River – Bitterroot
There are a few things that Montana is never short on – great fly fishing, big sky, changing weather, and wind. The transitional weather we’re having has made it seem pretty damned windy lately; I was on the river yesterday and it was windy as hell. I can only think of one truly useful thing […]
We didn’t get the weather that the southwestern and south central part of the state did (I hear there’s snow on the ground this morning in parts of Bozeman for instance), though at my place outside of Hamilton temps struggled to reach 50 yesterday and its 33 right now. From the looks of things there’s […]
Days are still pretty warm but cool nights are helping move us closer to the heyday for fall hatches we’re all waiting for. It’s going to be closer to 80 all week for highs, but lows in the high thirties and low forties feel damn good and are at least a little closer to what […]
Before sharing some good news about the Bitterroot, I’d like to add my ‘well done, boys’ to the growing list of people who are saying good things about Fish Can’t Read. What’s been particularly impressive to me is that some of the old school, crusty, I’ve seen it all fly fishing guides and shop folks […]
Those pining for fall weather have at least another week (and no doubt longer) before true fall weather sets in; yesterday afternoon was warm and sunny and the rest of the week and upcoming weekend looks that way too. Warm sunny weather will keep fishing looking up for Tricos and terrestrials and their attractor kin. […]
It’s damned hard not to be biased about the Bitterroot. I’ve lived in her valley for basically all of my life, fished the river in good years and bad, through drought and deluge, fought the battles over access and keeping the river, and watch development wash over in waves. All that said the Bitterroot continues […]
Better eat a big breakfast before heading out on the Bitterroot. Despite the heat the past few days the upper river is beginning to fish all day. I haven’t fished it this week below Florence, but the word is down that low things have been slower during the middle part of the day. It’s not […]
Though Jake and Mark over in Bozeman are talking about how much it looks like fall over there, we’re still looking summer right in the eye over here. The next few days in fact look to be damned sunny and hot; some of my long-time friends are thinking this may be the last really hot […]
The Bitterroot has been fishing pretty damned well despite the weather roller coaster we’ve been experiencing for the past several weeks. We’ve seen everything from searing heat (at least for us anyway) to flooding rains. The big push of water from back on the 7th and 8th has moved through; clarity is back in the […]
What a nice break to have a few days of clouds, cooler, weather and some rain. I’ve been out a couple of times this week on the upper river and yesterday in particular was very much a better day. What more could you ask for? Temps are 15 degrees or more cooler than they were […]
The spurt of rainy and cool weather we’ve all enjoyed lately has done a lot for the Bitterroot – flows bumped just a little Monday and yesterday and the water temp cooled some – it has been delightful. The upper half of the river didn’t suffer as much in the heat last week as the […]
It’s been the proverbial hot as hell for the past few days in the Bitterroot Valley. There are a lot of places where it’s hotter around the country, but for these parts it’s damned hot – folks have been a bit cranky if you ask me. At least there’s a bit of a break coming […]
I guess everyone probably says this about where they live, but one of the reasons that I truly love Montana is that the weather is constantly changing, sometimes in a big way. I’ve lived on my family’s land in the Bitterroot more or less all of my life and it never fails to amaze […]
The Bitterroot is in fine fettle these days and is fishing from top to bottom, though to be perfectly honest I’ve been fishing the Forks and the upper third almost exclusively the past week or so. There’s a lot to choose from hatch wise – there are still some PMDs around, Yellow Sallies, and even […]
