BLACKFOOT RIVER FLY FISHING — Angler's Guide

The upper Blackfoot should be on your list if you prefer solitude and small water. From its headwaters, the Blackfoot is greeted by several small tributaries (including the Landers Fork) before passing through the town of Lincoln. While arguably some fo the most wade-friendly water on the Blackfoot, this stretch sees little angling pressure due to its distance from Missoula. This stretch is remote and very wild due to this lack of pressure. All of our popular trout species can be found there, yet it is predominantly a cutthroat fishery. It’s best fished in mid-to-late summer with attractor dry flies, hoppers and small streamers.

As the Blackfoot leaves Lincoln, it begins to navigate its way out of thick forest into open cottonwood groves and agricultural land. This transition provides for exciting fishing opportunities, as the thick wooded structure near Lincoln begins to dissipate and grassy cutbanks become more common. While still too skinny to float consistently, this is where the Blackfoot begins to resemble a larger river. We find this stretch to be as far as the famous hatches on the Blackfoot will go. Hopper-dropper or streamer fishing begins to be effective in this stretch.

The North Fork of the Blackfoot River– the epitome of a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of stream. Many travellers heading north on highway 200 will drive past one of the most charming small streams in our area, without batting an eye! From its headwaters in the foothills of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the gin-clear North Fork meanders through forests and fields alike before its convergence with the Blackfoot near Ovando. The North Fork is a small stream, too, and is best fished in mid to late summer with terrestrial dry flies like hoppers and ants. Only open from the end of May through November, the North Fork season is a short, yet sweet one.

The famous Blackfoot Canyon is arguably the most popular stretch in the Missoula area. It’s natural beauty and fishing caliber are highly regarded by most to be some of the best in the area. This is largely a float-only stretch, both because public access is limited and because of the geology in “the Canyon.” The Canyon is a “box canyon,” with nearly vertical canyon walls that are perpendicular to the river, leaving little to no room to wade. Still, floating “the Canyon” should be on everyone’s list. This is where the Blackfoot becomes the mighty “Big Blackfoot,” with tall limestone walls and deep, plunging pools and riffles. The Blackfoot’s famous salmonfly hatches can be the thickest here, in addition to thick hatches of golden stones and green drakes. However, this stretch is no secret and can become very busy during peak season.

Some of our favorite remote, yet easily accessible, fishing is found in the Blackfoot Recreation Corridor. Continue past Johnsrud boat launch upstream towards Whitaker Bridge, and several campgrounds and fishing access sites will be found. While close to Missoula, this stretch is far off of Highway 200 and feels like you’ve been dropped into vast wilderness. You don’t need to venture off the beaten path to immerse yourself in the storied waters of the Blackfoot River. This corridor, largely characterized by its vast amounts of BLM land, is mostly public and easily accessible from the road. While the road can be narrow and slow-going at points, anglers head to this section to either float or wade beneath the mighty rapids. While wading here is difficult most of the year, wading from the bank or throwing big stoneflies and terrestrials from the boat can produce big fish looking for a big meal.

Not more than 20 minutes from Missoula, Johnsrud Park is the unofficial starting point of the “lower Blackfoot River.” This stretch is characterized by wide, deep runs with riffly boulder gardens intermixed. Although it is close to town and flows along the highway, this gem of a section of river is home to high-caliber fishing without insane windshield time. A seemingly higher density of rainbows and browns occupy this stretch, with true monsters lurking at the bottom of this stretch’s many deep pools. Anglers floating this stretch also have the opportunity to fish two rivers at once– floating through the previous site of the Milltown Dam on the lower Blackfoot near Bonner, into the Clark Fork River. While not the most remote stretch of the Blackfoot, this unassuming stretch of river is home to surprisingly good float fishing.

The Blackfoot is our coldest area river, and as a result does not typically offer great early season dry fly fishing. The warmer days in April will provide a few chances at dry fly fishing with Skwalas and mayflies, but it is mainly a nymph and streamer fishery early on.

• MARCH: As water temps warm up and the river begins to thaw, nymph and streamer fishing can be good to excellent. But most years, the river remains very cold into March and it hit or miss.
• APRIL: While the Blackfoot is still cold in April, there are a few chances for skwala stoneflies and mayflies but it's primarily a subsurface game during this month.
• MAY: Normally unfishable in May due to run-off. During low water years fish will be looking for Skwalas, and this can be some of the best Caddis fishing in the area. The upper river has a prolific caddis hatch and anglers lucky enough to fish it are able to find huge numbers of trout feeding on the surface.

We often refer to the Blackfoot as “bug soup” during the summer because of its quantity and quality of insect hatches. The most magical time on the Blackfoot River has got to be summer. Several prominent hatches occur in full force, leading to high-caliber dry fly fishing, nymph and streamer fishing.

• JUNE: This is the Blackfoot at its best, boasting one of the best and longest Salmonfly hatches in the state. These giant bugs will start to hatch on the lower river at the beginning of the month and make their methodical migration upriver each day. Many of our largest fish taken on this river come to Salmonfly patterns fished tight to the willows. By mid-month Golden stones and Green Drakes join the mix as well, offering three big bug options to fool hefty Blackfoot trout.
• JULY: Amazingly Salmonflies can still be found in the canyon stretch early in the month, and Golden stones and Drakes will take fish well into July. PMDs will hatch well in certain stretches mid-day and the evening caddis hatches are consistent fish producers throughout the month. The Blackfoot is a premiere attractor pattern river and all kinds of crazy flies will start to dupe trout in July and the attractor fishing will last through the rest of the season.
• AUGUST: One of our best terrestrial rivers, the Blackfoot fishes great in August with all sorts of hoppers, ants, and beetles. There’s nothing like watching a cutthroat come out of the depths of an emerald green pool to crush a hopper. There is also an excellent but short-lived Spruce moth hatch. Large Blackfoot trout go nuts for these bugs, and if you’re fortunate enough to be on the river during those two weeks it can produce truly unbelievable dry fly fishing. This is not the best mayfly river in the area, but there are some specific spots where PMDs and Tricos hatch daily and get big numbers of fish looking toward the surface.

As the leaves begin to change, great dry fly and streamer fishing unfolds on the Blackfoot River. On any given day you can be fishing tiny mayflies to big, cunning trout, or stripping articulated streamers for aggressive fish. Fishing the Blackfoot in the fall is equally diverse as it is exciting.

• SEPTEMBER: Hoppers and attractor patterns dominate the dry fly fishing well into the Fall. Add to that the best October caddis hatch in the area and the Blackfoot offers plenty of big fly options.
• OCTOBER: Magoganies and Blue-wings will motivate the fish to the surface as well during this last push to feed before winter. Fall is another great time to fish streamers for large, aggressive trout.
• NOVEMBER: While most of the bugs are gone for the season and the weather starts to get cold, the Blackfoot can fish well into November although it's mostly a subsurface approach.

The Blackfoot takes a slumber for much of the winter, as its location and elevation lend the river to cold, snowy conditions. It is common to see most of the river “locked up” with ice and snow in the colder months, rendering it unfishable. In a mild weather window, however, surprisingly good nymph fishing and streamer fishing can be worth braving the conditions.

• DECEMBER: If Missoula is experiencing a mild start to winter, December can be decent using nymphing techniques and fishing the slow, deep holes. But most years, the Blackfoot starts freezing up and becomes unfishable.
• JANUARY: The Missouri is one of the few places that can fish well in harsh, sub-zero temperatures. And while fishing in the pit of winter isn't for everyone, if you really need to scratch the itch, anglers can find good fishing nymphing in the slow, deep buckets with midge and sow bug imitations. While this isn't necessarily the best time to travel to the area to have a Montana fly fishing experience, for local anglers, hitting the Missouri during a mild stretch of weather can be a good way to shake cabin fever.
• FEBRUARY: Winter is still in full force and temperature can range from mid-40s on a mild day to -50+ degrees fahrenheit during a cold front. The river will be cold and the trout will be tanked up in the slow, deep buckets. When they do want to eat, anglers will find most success with midge and sow bug imitations with split shot under an indicator. During the odd stretch of mild weather, midge fishing with dry flies can be productive but the conditions have to be right.