Fishing Report: Blown Out Like a 16-seed

Bitterroot and Clark Fork River Skwala Report

The hydro-graphs appeared to have peaked and have began to drop but current flows are still near borderline prohibitive levels.  There is some high-water fishing to be had, and there are a few sneaky options to be had, but in general, this latest melt has stunted any Skwala hatch possibilities for a few days.

To give you a decent gauge, the ‘Root at Darby is at roughly 2000. Last time it was at that level: June 2016. It’s looking like this spring will resemble the Spring of 2014 a bit more than the last couple–plenty of low elevation snow to move things around, and good fishing to be had as soon as flows stabilize for long enough.

Safe money is on the dry fly fishing to start up in earnest when the Darby graph hits about 1200, and even then you’ll need to pick the back channels and soft water apart.  The safer money is on the Jayhawks.

Can you double-worm ’em on the Blackfoot? Sure! Can you turd and worm ’em on the ‘Root. Yeah, there are some nice fish to be had. Is your favorite Rock Creek winter nymph run an option? For sure.

But the best dry-fly fishing of the spring, which was in full swing by this time last year, is still a few dropping-water days away….