Posts by Anthony VonRuden

As we enter into August’s fishing full swing, we often ask ourselves the pressing question: “Should I twitch this fly, or not?” Spruce moths, nocturnal stones, hoppers, crane flies, terrestrials, upcoming Hecubas, mice, rainbow trout fry, etc. All of these food items are prevalent this time of year and move quite a bit on and […]

Some years, this last week of July is the week when great fishing starts to taper in the Missoula area… Not this year! Spruce moths have arrived early on the Blackfoot, and the big golden stonefly game continues in spades on the Clark Fork. And, on the right grassy bank on a windy afternoon, hoppers […]

Regarding dropper fishing, one of our old mentors is fond of saying, “It detracts, Fred!” And during certain times of the year, we’d have to agree. Your fly gets a much longer, cleaner drift–into fishier places–when it doesn’t have a 3ft dropper hanging from the bend of its hook. Not that we won’t sneak some […]

Suddenly it’s summer, and we’ve traded our rain gear for sandals and shorts, and our nymph rigs for single dries. All of our area rivers have come into good (arguably perfect) shape, for chasing dry flies down the river. Bitterroot at Darby: 1470 cfs Clark Fork at St Regis: 11,500 cfs Blackfoot at Bonner: 2,160 […]

Well, I sat down to write a report about the dropping flows, but after two straight days of rain, the dropping flows are now rising again. The upper Blackfoot got a deluge today, as did the upper Bitterroot, according to the graph. Blackfoot River Fishing Report Fishing on the Blackfoot was pretty solid today on […]

Well, we were wrong–most of us were anyway.  But those of us who thought–we’re certain–that the fishing around Missoula would’nt pick up until late June are eating a pretty tasty crow right now. Blackfoot River Fishing Report To wit, we’ve run our first guide trips on the Blackfoot, catching fish fairly consistently in the soft […]

Chocolate soup, soup, and more soup–that’s our Montana run-off State Meal for the next few weeks. In large part, our great state’s rivers have taken on the color of Thanksgiving gravy, and won’t likely clear until late June. Our snowpack remains ample, but the lack of rain in the past two weeks has many drainages […]

Missoula Fishing Report We are approaching peak runoff here in Missoula.  If the dry warmer weather continues as forecasted we should see the graphs peak and begin to drop within the next few weeks.  Excellent snowpack should allow for a great summer season of cool water and long dry fly drifts.  Salmonflies are right around […]

As of Cinco de Mayo, we’re entering what I like to call “Locals Fishing,” aka “Guides Get It Good.” This means that, for the most part, our area rivers will pulse up and down until the end of true runoff (likely late June). If you’re a townie, and lucky enough to catch the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, […]

Current River Conditions and Fly Fishing Report It’s hard to guess where the river flows will go in the next week or so, but the slight dusting of snow on Mount Jumbo this morning has me betting that we’ll get another good window of fishing before the plug gets pulled for good. Nearly all the gauges […]