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WE WILL TRY TO UPDATE THIS PAGE AS THINGS HAPPEN
or sometime soon after they happen
4/25/08
This years Skwalla hatch has been interesting. The
Hatch has been more like what we were used to about 10 to 15 years ago.
The weather has been hit and miss with more cold snowy days than warm sunny
days. Some of the cold snowy days have been great fishing while others are
just cold. Some days the bite is on all afternoon others we may only get
an hour or less dry fly activity. At this point mid day we are fishing
more March Browns than Skwalla and the infamous Golden Freddy/Pink Worm
combo has been producing well also. We are not expecting this to last much
longer as it warms up we will defiantly get a jump in water flows.
We have a heavy snow-pack this year and will be forced off our
river at some point due to high water. High water normally peaks near the
end of May or first part of June. With the abnormally high temperatures we
have experienced in May the last few years this might happen earlier.. In any case
we should have fishable water by the second week of June if not earlier.
With our good snow-pack and moisture levels we should have a great fishing year
with good water flows into the fall. This may be a fun year to monitor the
water flows on your favorite Montana rivers in May and June. You can check
flows on the Bitterroot south of Darby at :
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/?site_no=12344000&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065,00010
1/16/08
Air temps in the 40's had locals getting excited about spring
fishing. There were a few trout to be caught on nymphs, and allot of talk
and predictions about the Skwalla hatch to come.
Snow pack is great so far this year in the Bitterroot
drainage. We should actually see some high water this spring.
6/27/07
Our water is running about 1000 C.F.S. less than the 60 year
average. Lots of bugs hatching, more may flies than I have seen since
before the 2000 fires. Fishing has been good, lots of small fish feeding
some days bigger fish on others.
6/10/07
It took awhile for the Salmon Fly's to really get going, but
when they did we had some great fishing. There are still plenty of Salmon
Fly's out along with Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Drakes and a variety of
other aquatic insects. It should be great fishing until the dog days of
August, and with a little luck and some rain it could fish good throughout the
summer. Rain has slowed our fishing, or at least our catching, but we cannot
complain about a much needed rain.
5/26/07
Today Salmon Fly's started hatching at Wally Crawford on the
bitterroot. They are about 2 weeks early, water conditions are great, high
water is over, lets go fishing!
5/14/07
Lots of Mothers day Caddis on the bitterroot, If your lucky
you can find a backwater with fish feeding on them. Our water is running
just over 4,000 C.F.S. at Darby, this may be our peak this year. Fishing
is tough right now on the bitterroot, there are a few fish eating big Stonefly
Nymphs on the West Fork. If the water stays steady we could be seeing
Salmon fly's by the first pars of June.
5/2/07
Water is up and running dirty, with our low snow-pack it
could be a early Salmon fly hatch. We'll keep you posted.
4/9/07
Skwalla fishing has been spotty we seem to have more
fish feeding on the March Brown Drake. Lots of small fish feeding with
some chances at lager trout, that's what I've had anyway chances. I need to hone
the rusty skills and land a few now.
3/19/07
I have yet to here of anyone having a stellar dry fly day.
There are a few female Skwalla's with egg sacs ready to drop, so the bugs have
been doing their thing. With nights in the 50s and days in the 70s our
water has been a little unstable. San Juan worms have still been our top
producer. With a little luck our river should stabilize and we should be
spanking them on dry's soon.
3/08/07
With air temps in the high 50's the last few days the boat
hatch has officially started on the Bitterroot. The fish on the other hand
are a little slow getting started. If you put on a dry and stick with it
you will most likely have a few opp's, I haven't heard of anyone having a
stellar dry fly day yet. Streamer fishermen are dredging up a few fish,
and there has been some success with Skwalla nymphs. A San Juan worm,
mainly pink has been your best bet. Skwalla nymphs are crawling around
next to shore waiting for the right moment to crawl out and pop. We have
had some fish rising on warm afternoons, feeding on small mayfly, midge, small
stone, or the occasional stray Skwalla that has hatched. The window of
opportunity is fairly short, but on these beautiful spring days I can
think of no place better to be than on the water.
2/14/07
I have not made it on the water myself yet this
year, I am getting the itch. I walked out of the house at 8:00 in the
morning the other day and it was a balmy 41 deg., feels like fishing. I
rode down to the river and watched the ice flowing in large chunks creating an
ice jam. I didn't wet a line that day. The ice is now cleared, some folks
have been out nymphing & streamer fishing with some success. I am itching for
the dry fly action. We are still a month or so out for good dry fly activity, I
may have to break down and drown a nymph. We could use more snow especially in
the high country, hope to get it this spring. Happy valentines day.
8/24/06
Despite unusually warm weather the upper Bitterroot & West
Fork of the Bitterroot has been fishing great. With cooler air temps they
have lifted the fishing restrictions on the lower Bitterroot. We are still
battling with smoke from local fires and an over abundance of yellow-jackets. A
little rain and a good frost and we will be in great shape for fall fishing.
6/29/06
The tail end of the Salmonfly hatch has been seen on the
upper west fork of the Bitterroot this week. The main river has dropped
and is fishing great with Green Drake, & Golden Stone patterns. We had a short
break in the unusually hot weather today. Cloud cover and rain brought out the
Drakes, and larger trout into the open water. It was a great day to be
alive.
5/9/06
The river has dropped and cleared with cooler weather in the
last week. With a little luck you could get in on some dry fly action.
Mothers day caddis for mothers day? This will be a short lived window
higher temp's next week will start the river back up.
4/21/06
With warm weather the Bitterroot is on its way back up.
We may get some more fishing in before the inevitable run off. Skwalla
hatch this year was one of the toughest in years, the water was up and down, the
weather was shifting from cold and snowy to sunshine with everything in-between.
Fishing would be on one day and off for 4 or 5.
3/7/06
The Bitterroot river is looking great, the ice and snow on
the edges of have once again nearly all melted. We have a great snow pack
in the high country, twice that of last year at this time. The snow in the low
elevations is low to nonexistent, these conditions are great for a good Skwalla
hatch. With low snow pack at low elevations we should have very little early
runoff. A late season snow storm could change that but right now we are
setting up for great pre run off fishing conditions. The high elevation snow
pack will defiantly bring a good run off this spring and a good flushing of the
Bitterroot river drainage. I would steer clear of the last half of May to mid
June for planning a fishing trip on the Bitterroot this year. If you
happen to be in the area at those times defiantly check on the run off status as
no one can predict when and how long the run off will take place.
Fishing right now on the Bitterroot has been marginal, catching some nice fish on nymphs but nothing yet on the surface. It wont be long now,. bugs will be popping and we will be sticking fish on the top.
6/26/05
Salmon fly's are done for this season. Fishing has
slacked off the last few days, the trout may be suffering indigestion. But we
all know what happens after the gluttony at thanksgiving dinner, we always go
back for more and desert. Golden stones, P.M.D.'s, Yellow Sallies,
Bitterroot Stones just to name a few of the tasty morsels hatching now.
6/14/05
The Bitterroot has been fishing great, with the best fishing
on the forks. Salmon Fly's are still flying when the sun comes out and it
warms up. We are also starting to see Golden Stones, Green Drakes, Pale
Morning Dunn's, and an assortment of other aquatic insects.
5/24/05
Fishing was very good today on the West Fork, we took several
nice fish from 17" to 20" on a large Stone Fly nymph. The high water
peaked out on May 21st at 3500 c.f.s. at the Darby gauging station.
We were fishing the west fork that day it fished surprisingly well that day. The
West Fork was muddy on the 19th but dropping and clearing by the 21st.
5/14/05
The water is up and off color on the main Bitterroot but nice
and clear on the West Fork. Fishing was good today on the west fork using
Big Stone nymphs and San Juan Worms. There are still some Mothers day
Caddis & small Drakes hatching. Salmon Fly's should be popping off
soon, with the way the fish have been eating big stone fly nymphs I'm thinking
they might be early this year. With another year of low snow pack and
minimal run off we should have great fishing all spring.
4/13/05
I fished the last five days we had weather from hot and sunny
to snow. The water flow was fluctuating up and down and a little off color
some days. Fishing was good all of the days even when the water was off
color. We fished mainly Skwalla nymphs and Pink San Juan Worms, getting
some dry fly activity on the nicer days.
2/8/05
The weather has been unusually warm with very little snow.
Once again we are in the Bitterroot valley and blessed with plenty of water,
even on a drought year. It should be a great year for spring fishing.
Low snow pack should mean little to no interruption of fishing due to high
water. Late summer fishing could be slow if we have a hot, dry summer.
If we get a little rain it very well could fish great all summer. Fishing
has been good on nymphs and steamers with some dry fly activity in the warm
afternoons. Skwalla's have been hatching sporadically, and there are lots
of Skwalla nymphs near the edge and around logs getting ready to pop.
10/26/04
What a great fishing season. We had great water
conditions all year. The cold snap and rain we got near the end of August
really perked things up. No major forest fires, no mudslides and really no
high water. It was a great recovery year for the fishery. I
would like to thank everyone that came out and helped make our season this
year. We defiantly hope to see you again next year. Fishing is still
good right now with nymphs and streamers. Also on the sunnier days we are
still getting some late afternoon dry fly activity.
7/23/04
Fishing has been great this spring, it has been just
the last 3 or 4 days that it has gotten tougher. With persistence
and a good drift the Bitterroot is still producing fish. But
as fishing legend and large trout guru John Foust puts it " it ain't amateur
hour out there". Also I think the trout are starting to take hoppers as
hoppers.
7/01/04
The water is clear and beautiful and the fishing has been
great. We have had allot of late afternoon thunder storms. The
storms tend to put the fish down when they are coming in, but stimulate the
hatch when they stabilize. We have had assorted Mayflies, Stones & Caddis
popping off. Mayfly patterns have been the most productive. Stone
patterns have also been working well. No particular pattern is dominating,
they are just looking for a good drift over their nose. I have heard allot
of chatter about Hoppers working well. At this point I think they are
taking them as Golden Stones. The hoppers will be here soon, we are
already seeing small ones on the bank.
6/20/04
The Salmonfly hatch has come and gone, other than a few stragglers
still flying on the upper forks. Fishing was great on the forks but the
hatch never really materialized on the main river. The Salmonfly's might be over
for the year but the season is just starting. We have Golden stones,
Bitterroot stones, Yellow sallies, P.M.D.'s, Grey & Green drakes, and a few
caddis starting to hatch. We rolled over one rock at lunch the other day
and came up with Golden stone, Bitterroot stone and drake nymphs. The
water is clear the bugs are starting to pop and the fish are fat and
healthy. It should be another great year on the Bitterroot.
5/17/04
The Bitterroot river is looking great and running clear,
water flow is well below average for this time of year. Snow pack in the
high country is holding well and Painted Rocks reservoir is full so we should
have good water flow again this year on the bitterroot. We may still get
some muddy high water depending on weather. Mothers day caddis and B.W.O.
hatches have been coming off but with the fluctuations in water flow have kept
the fishing slow at best. We have taken some nice fish on nymphs and
streamers. The West Fork fished well with large stonefly nymphs.
This is a good indication that the Salmonfly hatch may be early this year.
4/26/04
The water cleared and the river has been fishing
great. With record high temps the last two days and snow today that may be
over again for awhile. With the warm spring and early run off we have had
we should be in line for a excellent mothers day caddis hatch. This
is a hatch that normally happens on the bitterroot when the water to high for
good fishing. About once every 5 to 7 years we get the hatch with good
water levels and the fishing is spectacular. Lets hope this is the year.
4/7/04
The main river is up and dirty today. John Foust fished
yesterday on the west fork it was slow fishing but still running clear. It will
a few days before the main river clears again.
4/6/04
Water is up again today, but we have had some great fishing
over the last week. The weather has been bouncing back and forth between
hot and very cold. The cold days have been good fishing, the hot days have
been slow, with fish being very selective. After a day or two of heat, the
water jumps up and the fishing slows down. Then with cooler weather the water
level drops and the pattern starts over again. This has been our spring.
Overall it has been excellent fishing, very challenging, with great
rewards for persistence and presentation. Our best fly so far this
spring has been the "Golden Freddie" a Chernobyl variation with a
golden colored underside. This fly has worked equally as well in
delicate and heavier waters. Why they keep falling for these big chunks of foam
with rubber legs we cannot say, but once again these bugs are fooling the larger
trout. I would expect the fishing to continue to be on and off, but
good, until high water hits mid May.
3/23/04
We have had about a week of good to great dry fly
fishing since the last report, mixed with poor days snow and high winds.
So for my luck has been to hit the poor and windy days. This is a tough
hatch to hit, even for locals, but defiantly worth the effort.
The water on the bitterroot is up but still running clear.
Despite with a jump of 200cfs in the last 3 days there were fish still wanting
skwalla dry's & big Fred's today. Very few fish, but the clear water and
minimal activity was encouraging after the stream flow increase that we
had. It was very warm today and there is light rain this evening,
the river will probably jump up even more tomorrow.
We floated the Darby to Wally stretch today. The stream
restoration project below lone pine is still in progress. It is looking good and
will make that float much easer and safer this summer.
3/12/04
I fished yesterday with Wild Bill Looser. We caught 5
on skwalla dry's 14" to 17", good looking fish nice and
fat. We saw a few adult skwalla on the water. We fished Wally to
Anglers south of Hamilton. I talked with guy's that fished above and below
us, they reported back very few fish on dry's. The good news is that our
river came up about 100cfs and it is still running clear. Lets hope it
stays that way.
3/8/04
The river is looking great today, nice and clear with
trout rising to midges and small stones. I hope that it holds like this
for a couple of days but I don't think we will be that lucky. With a high
of 74deg. in Hamilton today we may start getting some low elevation run
off. The river is loaded with active skwalla nymphs along the shore, it
should be a great hatch. Anglers are still catching on nymphs and
streamers and starting to get a few on top. I hope to give you a first
hand report soon.
I purchased my 2004 fishing license online at the FWP website. It worked without a hitch for me. You print out a temp license so you are good to go immediately. There is a small convenience fee for using a credit card, my fee was $1.86.
1/23/04
The snow is stacking up in the high country. We should
have a good run off and good water conditions this
summer. The river is still iced up at the silver bridge North of Hamilton,
other sections are opening up. Mike Moline floated last week, his report
was that it is really "*#%!+=! cold out there". I will take his
word for it. We should be fishing dry's in about 1 & 1/2 months.
Mid March can be the first of our dry fly season with the much anticipated
skwalla hatch. The hatch has been a bit off the last couple of years due
to weather and run off. We are due for a good skwalla season hopefully
this will be the year.
I put a link to our states on line licensing page on our start page. I have yet to test this or see how it works, please let us know if you have any luck with it. Hopefully it will save some time and get us on the river quicker.
We also have a rate increase for 2004. It is the first increase is three years, with the price of gasoline, insurance, shuttles ect. we felt the need. I think you will find we are still very competitive with our pricing, and still offer some of the best guides in the industry.
11/14/03
Sorry once again I got caught up in the fishing season and
neglected the web page. It was a great year overall, the weather and the
trout were cooperative most of the season. We had smoke but no major fires
in the upper Bitterroot drainage. We had a rain storm in the East fork
drainage that made the river jump up almost 12". It a was the first spike
after the 2000 fires that didn't come with muddy or ashy water.
6/24/03
Water is dropping and fishing is coming on for the main
Bitterroot. Golden Stones, B.W.O., P.M.D. , Drakes lots of bugs coming
off. Yesterday there favorite was the red San Juan Worm. ? I'm not sure
about these fish.
6/20/03
The East & West forks of the Bitterroot river have been
fishing great. Salmon and Golden Stone fly's have been very
productive. Salmon fly's have been seen all of the way up the East and
West forks. The upper West fork above the Nez Perce has yet to start
fishing well, the water is still cloudy coming from Painted Rocks reservoir.
The main stem should be coming on any day.
6/9/03
East fork of Bitterroot is running clear. We fished it
today and caught fish on dry fly's. Rainbows, Cut-bows & Browns all in
the 14" to 16" range all nice fat healthy Bitterroot
trout. The main river and west fork are dropping and clearing but not
productive for dry fly's yet. Large heavy stone nymphs have been
productive on the west fork.
6/01/03
We saw a few good days of Caddis and Mayflies, however it was
a bit hit and miss with weather and run off. The river is in full high
water stage now. We hope we saw the peak of it on Sunday May 31st.
It seems to be dropping for now. The Bitterroot was flowing about 5000 cfs
over the sixty year average near Darby and down near Missoula resembled a lake.
It loosened a few bridges and flooded some basements, just enough to let us know
who is in charge. Salmon Fly's should be popping off soon. Soon
being a couple of weeks at the earliest unless the river really drops
quickly. See you all soon.
4/25/03
The water is up and muddy, with air temps in the 70's
and warm rainy nights the water is running about 1000cfs over the sixty
year average at 2670cfs as of 4/25/03. The good news is with the low
elevation snow pack coming off now we might get some good fishing in in May
before the high elevation snow starts melting. The well known Mothers day
caddis hatch can be wonderful on the bitterroot with the right water
conditions. We also get a good blue wing olive hatch and gray drakes
coming off this time of year. Spring fishing on the Bitterroot is a
crap shoot but if you hit it right it can be some of the best dry fly fishing
you will ever see. The fires of 2000 are still effecting our run off and
will be for years to come. When 325,000 acres of forest burn in the Bitterroot
national forest I guess you have to expect some change. Vegetation is coming
back and things are settling in we should have less problem with mid summer mudslides
this year.
4/7/03
Fishing has been on and off again this spring due to weather
and run off. When the river clears fishing has been good. Skwalla's
are still hatching we also have Drakes coming off. Skwalla dry or large
attractor patterns "FREDDIES" seem to be the most effective. Great
snow pack in the mountains, after a healthy run off we should see great water
conditions throughout the summer.
3/13/03
We now have a great snow pack in the mountains, Lost Trail
ski area received over 4 feet of snow in the last storm and now has a 8 1/2'
base. Mike Moline and I fished yesterday action was a little slow on
top. We landed 4 and had two other opps all on Skwalla dry's. It was
great to get back on the river and do a little dry fly fishing. Blue sky, Bald
Eagles flying overhead, Capnia and Nemoura in the air and on the water its tough
to beat a day like that. The water was a little off color but other than that in
great shape. Today with warmer temperatures the water is up and
dirty. This will start the early runoff and shut the fishing off for
now. By the end of March we should be in great shape, barring any new snow
storms. With a warm weekend and the lack of low elevation snow pack
we could be fishing again by early next week. Our high elevation snow pack
normally starts melting around mid to the end of May. Should be a Great
Skwalla season hope to see you here.
2/24/03
Not allot of fishing going on, on the warmer days people are sneaking
out and getting a few on nymphs. We had a low of -11 in Hamilton this morning, I
believe that beats the previous record. Snow pack is looking good Lost
Trail "our local ski area" has a 76" base and 24" in the
last two days. We checked the powder at lost trail yesterday it was phenomenal,
and typical lost trail day we could still find untracked powder at the end of
the day on Sunday. The snow pack has a high water content, we will have plenty
of water to fill our reservoirs. The snow pack is just in the high country, not
much accumulation at lower elevations. This should make for a good Skwalla
hatch, the low elevation snow pack is what got us in trouble last year. It should
be another great season of fishing on the Bitterroot river.
1/04/03
Sorry for the gap in the fishing reports. I am more
into fishing than updating web pages, I will try to keep more up to date this
season. We had a great season last
year. We did suffer some after effects of the 2000 fire season with the occasional
mudslide, but the mudslides only came after much needed rainfall.
This season is looking like it may be another dry one. We have below
normal snow pack and abnormally warm temperatures. This could make for
great spring fishing but low water through out the summer. On the Bitterroot we
are blessed with Painted rocks reservoir, it is a small reservoir set up
primarily to hold back water for irrigation. The release of water out of painted
rocks helps keep our water flows up and temperatures down on a drought
year. But hey it's to early for gloom and doom. It could keep
snowing and catch up by spring or we could have a wet summer. In any case the
Bitterroot river will be a great place to be this summer. We will be
looking forward to seeing you all.
6/24/02
There are still Salmon fly's on the East & West
forks, also some Caddis, P.M.D's, Golden Stones, Bitterroot Stones
& Green Drakes. The fish seem to be keying on the Salmon fly, Golden
Stone or a large attractor pattern "Freddie". Water is dropping
down & clearing the main river should be fishing good soon. The flow
is around 2500 cfs. at Hannon fishing access South of Darby.
6/21/02
Salmon fly fishing has been good, bugs are all the way up the East
and West forks. Water has been up and down fishing has been on and
off, but when you hit it right it has been some great fishing.
6/10/02
There are a few Salmon fly shucks at the Wally Crawford
fishing access north of Darby. On the warmer days we have seen a few adult
Salmon fly's flying upstream. The fish are not keying in on the dry's on
the Bitterroot yet but it shouldn't be long. Large stonefly nymphs have
been productive. Water levels are good it has been dropping and clearing,
however with the cooler weather in the last few days we have fresh snow in the
mountains. With warmer weather on the way we could have a few more day's
of higher cloudy water. All in all it is looking like great conditions for
a phenomenal Salmon fly hatch and a great season with plenty of water.
5/11/02
Fishing has been good, not consistent but very good if you
happen to be out on the right day and at the right time. The fish have been
keying on small caddis "Mothers day" and gray and brown drakes.
We fished yesterday the bug's started popping around 1:30. The fish were
on the drakes and there were pods of fish feeding. We stuck some nice
fish, Rainbow and Cutthroat. The only good size brown we saw flew by
in the talons of an osprey. We saw the osprey pick the brown out of the
water then it flew by us close enough that you could see the brown trout was
still breathing. The dry fly fishing was over by 4:30. Another
beautiful day on the Bitterroot river.
Our runoff will be starting soon. We have a great snow
pack in the Bitterroot valley, with that and the cool snowy spring we have had
we should have plenty of water for great summer and fall fishing.
4/21/02
The river has dropped and cleared, not to Bitterroot
standards but it has cleared. The flow is around 900 cfs. at the Darby
gauging station, not a bad fishing level for the Bitterroot river. Water
temps were 38 in the morning at the Wally Crawford fishing access and a high of
45 at Anglers Roost in the evening. Fishing was not easy, we boated
several on dry's late in the day and had fairly good luck with stonefly nymphs
and San Juan worms in the earlier part of the day.
4/15/02
The river is up and muddy. We have been fighting
with this from the first of April. So far it has gone from bad to
worse. The bright side is we have a good snow pack and the river will get
a good and needed flushing out before it is over. The fishing was very
good the last part of March. Skwala's hatched sporadically off and on and
the fish were looking for them. Nymphing has been productive and they have
taken some dry's in the cloudy water. Now the water is way up, it
jumped to over 2000 cfs. from around 600 cfs last week. I think we are
done fishing until it levels off or drops down some. At least with the
river up I made it back to update the web page.
3/22/02
Today it was cold but not windy. We had to clear
the ice from the guides about every 1/2 hour, and that was in the heat of the
day. We managed to boat several nice trout. All fish we caught were
on Skwala dry's, on top the way we like it. The window of opportunity seemed to
only last about an hour and a half. We only saw four Skwala dry's that
had hatched. The bug's are wanting to pop, all we need is a few warmer
day's.
3/16/02
The better part of the snow has melted on the valley
floor. The water is cold and there have been snow flurries daily.
The Skwala nymphs are active and moving around close to shore. There are a few
flys sporadically hatching but the major part of the hatch has yet to start.
With a little warmer weather we should be into the first part of our dry fly
season. Nymph fishing has been good, but after a long winter we want dry
fly action.
3/06/02
Still cold and snowy. It is dumping snow pretty good
out there, the fish will have to wait. It's Lost Trail Powder Mountain tomorrow.
3/02/02:
Still cold and snowy.
2/28/02:
Temperatures are warming , 33 deg. high today at my house in Hamilton. The snow is melting slowly in the valley and the ice is once
again clearing in the river. We are expecting a good Skwalla season.
With the recent snow fall in the valley we should have plenty of water for
floating this March and April. We will keep you posted.
2/25/02:
It is cold and snowy, with 4 to 8 inches of new snow on the
valley floor and temperatures down to -4 its not the best for fishing. Last week
we had reports of good nymph fishing on the Bitterroot river and some dry fly
(midge) activity on the Clark fork river. Snow pack is good in the
mountains, that should make for a good season. We will have high water this
season. High water normally peaks the end of May to the first part of June.
