Our good friend Brandon, with his first skwala smashing cutthroat of the year.

Despite a beautiful float, good bug numbers (in isolated locations), and almost perfect spring weather, the fish just didn’t seem to be keying in on the big bug quite yet. After many fly changes, solid drifts, and a lot of persistence, our good buddy Brandon was able to capitalize on the first fish of the day, and his first fish on a skwala for the year. Needless to say, we were stoked. Although this skwala smashing shmedium cutthroat may not be the biggest fish you’ve ever seen, he’s the first of his kind for us this year, and we’re jacked up about it to say the least. Despite the skwala hatch being “epic” status for the year yet, we were able to pick up a handful of other fish on streamers, and nymphs throughout the day. With increasing temperatures in the extended forecast, we’re hoping for better results as the days go by. Have you been out fishing the skwala hatch yet this year? If so, let us know how you did in the comments section below.

No matter what the fishing is like, Western Montana never fails to provide the eager spring angler with top shelf views, in almost every direction.

Want to see more from our weekend float? Check out the photos below to see a couple highlights from our time on the water. While you’re at it, check out our all new Fly Patch Trucker, and get geared up for spring fishing HERE.

Skwala Stonefly – AKA the method to the madness behind our latest film, SKWALHALLA.

Although skwala fishing was slow this weekend, streamers paid nothing but dividends for our good friend Colin. That one’s definitely a bucknasty!

Words & Photos: Calvin Connor

The post 2018 Skwala Stonefly Report – 3/19. appeared first on Montana Wild.

We simply mark spring as the time when the rivers lose their ice and temperatures start hitting the low 40s. The fish take note and if you can handle cold feet and hands, you’ll most likely land some of your biggest fish of the year.

Spring fishing is a tough bet if you’re not a local considering weather patterns this time of year can vary a ton! Those weather patterns also have a big impact on flows and river temps. If you live here though you’re in luck. Watching the weather will pay off and many beautiful days can be found in February, March and April. Having a flexible work schedule helps a lot as well.

Nymphing is going to be your big producer from February through mid March. If you’re not a purist throw on a worm and another nymph matching a local food source and you’ll be in business. It’s not flashy but it plain works. If you’re feeling a bit bolder, a streamer will pay off big time if you can push through the slow days that exist this early in the year.

Anytime of day, any water type and any retrieve can and will pick up fish but a slow twitch or swing through slow 3-6’ of water tend to pick up the most fish this time of year. As the river temperature starts to tick upward the streamer bite can be off the charts and other than fall this is our favorite time to streamer fish.

Once we get into the last couple weeks of March we start to see the skwala stonefly emerge. This hatch brings the big boys out of hiding and fishing big dries this early in the year is very hard to beat. Expect crowds once the word is out, but if you know where to look you can still have some banner days under the Big Sky tossing a dry and getting some vicious eats.

As we move into April we see some absolutely great fishing across the board and the weather is typically much nicer between spring storms.

Typically runoff starts showing up in late April and early May and from then on we wait until things shape up in June. This spring has already shaped up to be one that we won’t quickly forget and we’re only half way through it. Expect to see more from this spring in the future!

-Zack

The post Spring Is King appeared first on Montana Wild.

-Zack

The post Three Words / Three Photos appeared first on Montana Wild.

Headed East

5:30 came a little to early but the chance to fish got me out of bed after only a couple snoozes.  With the local rivers looking nice and brown, we decided to hit up the Missouri River with our good friend Jeff and get a couple days of fishing in.  [If you missed our first trip to the Missouri River read about it here.]  After a couple hours we rolled into Craig and got our shuttle situated at the Headhunters Fly Shop.  These guys know how to run a fly shop and if your in need of almost anything, chances are they can get it for you or point you in the right direction.  Soon we were on the river and the weather was impeccable.  No wind and decently warm temperatures kept our hopes high.

Smooth sailing

The day started off with a handful of small fish.  Although fun, we were hoping for something a touch bigger to get the rods bent on.

Even the little ones get Jeff’s mug smiling

We soon drifted off the main channel of the Mo and got into one of the small side channels.  There were a lot of midges on the water and a few risers.  We stripped streamers through the slower holes but with minimal success.

Strippin stream

We kept moving and found a pod of risers.  After about an hour of fishing we only came away with two misses on top.  We were running 5X tippet and a small BWO and were able to trick a few but no fish in hand.  We learned that some days 6 or 7X and a very, very tiny fly are the only option on these trouts meal plan.

We kept the train chugging downriver only to be interrupted by another bathroom break.  Only this time is was a very opportune time to pull over.  As we sat on the side of the river cracking fresh PBR’s, we saw a single riser about 100 yards downstream.  A short drift and we were anchored up on the entrance to a small side channel with one slurping fish in sight.  A few empty handed drifts with the nymphs and I had had enough.  We were going to get one on top or go out trying.  I was able to get a slurp from the back of the boat and we decided to get out and put our dry fly fishing to the test.  After about an hour all three of us were able to catch rainbows on dries ranging from 17-20 inches.  These fish had moved up into a small hole only about 40′ square and about 2-3 feet deep.

Not bad for my first fish on a dry for 2012

After putting the hurt on the few risers in that hole we pulled anchor and kept things rolling.  Again we found pods of rising fish but couldn’t connect with the setup we were running.  When they say these fish will humble you, they aren’t lying.

One of the better banks to fish and a slew of midges on top

After floating past countless risers with no luck we slowly drifted back into Craig America.  It’s definitely a very cool experience to see a big fish nosing up and sipping ever so slightly.  To catch one like that is even more exciting.  We rolled in around 730 and drifting past the last seam we were able to see a train of rising fish.  There were at least 20-30 trout nosing out of the water with anywhere from 5-10 up at a time.  And there were some big ones in the bunch.  That’s something you just don’t see around Missoula and I can see the appeal that the Missouri has to offer.  Unfortunately, our batting average on these fish was probably close to like 5% or less.  When it’s midges on the meal plan the fishing can be agonizingly tough and a little maddening.

Jeff on the grill

Day 2 we were up an hoping for a bit better day on the river.  After some eggs in camp scrambled up with a tasty stick, we were back over to the Headhunters to pick up a few flies and get a shuttle all squared up.  Contrary to the weather forecast, we had strong winds and clear skies.  The bugs weren’t out in the numbers they were from the day before and the fishing was just plain slow.

Finally getting to a wind free spot

We again floated the dam to Craig.  The fish were few and far between and small.  Not exactly fulfilling our vision for the day.

Side channel sight fishing

Around 3PM the wind started to die down and the fish started rising again.  We were again in a side channel, trying to snipe those pesky sipping trout.

Trying to find the right setup to trick those damned slurpers

We counted close to a hundred noses over the last two hours of the float but just couldn’t find the mojo.  The casts were right but the setup wasn’t fooling them.  5X wasn’t cutting it and a #18 midge apparently wasn’t either.  Hey we’ve been fishing nymphs all winter and spring so we were happy just to get a few over the course of the two days on top.  We weren’t the only ones having trouble either.  Lots of fellow floaters were complaining of slow conditions from the dam to Craig.  Apparently we should have floated from Craig to Mid-Canyon as we found a note from our buddy Tyler Trudeau saying they got into about 40 fish on their float.  The Missouri River is one that your going to spend some serious time on before you can say you understand it.  We had a great time and hopefully next time the river will be a touch more generous.  We did get a small amount of video so we’ll probably make a short mash up here in the next couple of weeks.  Be checking back as we near spring hunting season, get closer to getting Contrast done, and hopefully get a small video from this trip up on the site.

-Zack

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