2013 Forecast:
This past summer was really terrific with plenty of water in our rivers and healthy fish! Our winter has been quite mild so far, but La Nina related weather predictions suggest a cooler and wetter winter from January into May.
Fishing, Hatches and Seasons:
Our spring fishing gets started in early April. Our rivers are waking up from the winter and fish are hungry and active. Weather can be more unpredictable, but we often have some excllent BWO and caddis hatches as we move into May. Our run-off does not usually occur until mid to late May and if some rivers are unfishable, we have excellent spring creeks as well as the Madison tailwater to fish.
Our salmon fly hatch typically comes off in mid-June on the lower Madison and really gets heavy on the upper Madison later in the month. July has golden and yellow stonefly hatches which bring on great dry fly action for the weeks following the salmon flies.
The PMD fishing is also fantastic, starting in late June and lasting into late July. We often like to fish big sculpin patterns and crayfish throughout the summer and fall months with many various small nymph and emerger patterns below. Little green stones, yellow sallies and caddis become important hatches in mid-to late July. August also marks the start of our famous hopper fishing. Spring creeks offer clouds of tiny tricos in August and this can be some of the most maddening dry fly fishing of the year. Soft hackle fishing is also most productive as the water warms and flows become low. Carp fishing is best in mid to late August as the big boys become most active when water temps are higher. Hopper fishing starts to slow in early September with beetle and ant fishing becoming productive. Blue-winged-olive hatches continue through September until the temperatures start to get cold. Late September and October offer great streamer fishing as the browns start to turn a vibrant orange. Give us a call or email and we'll be happy to offer any information that you might need to help you enjoy a great fishing trip in Montana!
