Montana Fly Fishing
Guides - Planning your Visit
Depending on your preferred style of fishing (dries, freestones, springcreeks...
etc.) we suggest you contact us so we can provide you with
the most up to date information, then give you a recommendation based
on our conversation. In general here are some popular times to fish
our area with the pros and cons listed.
March/April
- Pros
- Consistant hatches - Blue Wing Olives, Midges
- Good water conditions (clear)
- Few crowds
- Cons
- Variable weather conditions
Late April/May
- Pros
- Mother's day caddis hatch! This hatch is undescribable check out our Caddis section
- Excellent fishing for numbers of fish and big fish
- Few crowds
- Cons
- Variable water conditions (too clear to too dirty)
- Difficult to predict the timing of the caddis hatch
- Variable weather conditions
Mid May/Mid June
- Cons
- We don't recommend planning you trip this time of year the hatches on the spring creeks and tailwaters are minimal. The freestone rivers are experiencing high, dirty water due to spring run off when the snow melts from the mountains and floods the rivers.
Mid June/Early July
- Pros
- Spring creeks see the emergence of Pale Morning Duns (PMDs)
- Yellowstone River has Salmon Flies - with big fish eating dries!
- Consitantly good weather
- Relatively few crowds
- Cons
- Salmon Fly hatch is difficult to predict and can occur very quickly and end just as fast
- Variable water conditions on the freestone rivers
July/August
- Pros
- Typically the most consistant weather and consistantly good fishing on freestones, tailwaters and spring creeks
- The Boulder River and Stillwater Rivers start fishing well
- Yellowstone Nationa Park waters begin fishing well
- Good water conditions
- Cons
- More anglers on the water - but we can avoid the crowds if you'd like
September/October
- Pros
- Yellowstone National Park fishes very well
- Yellowstone River and spring creeks have some great days on streamers and dries repectively
- Fewer anglers on the water
- Cons
- Variable hatch conditions
- Varialbe weather conditions
November/February
- Pros
- We will be fishing abroad in the Keys, Bahamas, Brazil and other great destinations
- We'll be enjoying Montana's great 'Cold Smoke' powders turns on one of the great ski areas near us
- Cons
- We won't be fishing again until the spring
