Western Montana Dry Fly Fishing

Western Montana fly fishing centers around the city of Missoula in late summer and early fall. The city is quite a bit larger than Bozeman and has a very vibrant downtown nightlife. It’s a great place to base out of for a few days of fishing a variety of rivers including the Blackfoot, Clark’s Fork, and Bitterroot rivers, each well regarded in terms of quality fisheries. Late season on these rivers is characterized by dry fly fishing with attractor and hopper patterns, often with a small dropper nymph just a foot or two below the dry. The fishing over there is quite a bit different than around Bozeman and is certainly worth the trip.

We like this time of year around Missoula for a variety of reasons, but mostly just because there is a lot of great water in the area and it’s not very crowded most days. Each of the three main rivers is scenic and unique in their own way and offer miles and miles of access to quality waters. One of the main differences between the fishing in Missoula and Bozeman is the fact that the rivers around Missoula all have healthy population of our native Westslope Cutthroat Trout. Westslope’s fight much more vigorously than the Yellowstone Cutthroat found in SW Montana, but are still a beautiful and unique fish. In addition to the Bows, Browns, and Cutties, it’s not uncommon to hook into a Bull Trout on occasion as well. This area has a lot to offer in terms of diverse fisheries and experiences for that angler that wants to see some new water with Fins & Feathers in 2012.

Rick Weisend is our primary guide around Missoula and he is available for trips over there year-round. Toby Swank and a few of our other guides head over that way for a couple of weeks each fall in search of rising fish and a change of scenery. The fall is characterized by reliable hatches of Tricos and Hecuba (a large Mayfly) which generally bring fish to the surface almost all day long. Hoppers and large attractor dries typically work well too and we try to stick with dry fly fishing for the most part this time of year on these rivers. There are chances for some really large fish on streamers on any of these rivers this time of year when conditions are right.

Guests typically fly into Missoula and stay at anyone of a myriad of hotel choices. The Holiday Inn downtown is a perfect location if you don’t want to hassle with a rental car as there are dozens of restaurants within walking distance and we can pick you up there in the mornings. We’ll be happy to help you find something that fits your needs, but the Holiday Inn has worked well for us in the past. Our standard rate of $425 per day applies to all of our trips out of Missoula and you can book a trip by calling the shop at 1-877-790-5303 or just send us an e-mail to get it rolling.

If you’d like to join up with Toby for one of the fall trips, he’ll be available for Missoula trips from Sept. 17 – 28 and requires a minimum of 3 days per booking. Rick is available year-round or for trips of less than 3 days during this timeframe.  This is one of our favorite times of year to fish western MT and we hope that you’ll consider this trip when looking at planning your 2012 fishing vacation!