Fly Fishing Montana

Early summer fishing trips are booking fast.

Rich — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:53:50 +0000

When the waters of the Rocky Mountains recede and clear, the fishing is outstanding! We always look forward to the weeks following the annual run-off. Pictured here is Ben Moore, who guides for NRO, with a beautiful Cutthroat from our walk and wade river near East Glacier Park.

Spring is on its way, fishing is in the near future.

Rich — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:54:24 +0000

This is the time of year that we have dreams of big trout slamming flies on the surface. That is what we love about the Flathead River; great dry fly fishing. This winter has been a mild dry winter, much different than last winter. Glacier National park and the surrounding mountains have much less snowpack than normal so we could start fishing earlier.

Big fish eating flies on the Flathead!!

Rich — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:45:27 +0000

Check out this monster Rainbow that Shane Freehling caught yesterday with guide Drayton Osteen. The Flathead system is finally fishing consistant. We caught good-sized fish on both Nymphs and Dry Flys. Now is time to take advantage of the good fishing

Flathead River is finally fishing great

Rich — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:47:59 +0000

We really started seeing alot of insects about wednesdayof last week. Catching several nice sized cutthroats. There is still a ton of snow in the high country – Glacier National Park and the surrounding wilderness. We expect the water to run high all summer, which is fine as long as the fish are biting.

Trout TV production has started the 2011 season

Rich — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:59:04 +0000

Bob Asbury and I shot a two day show on a spring creek just outside of Dillon, Montana. The fishing was fabulous. I caught beautiful Browns and Rainbows on dry flies, nymphs and streamers. I will be traveling and fishing lakes and different waters until the Flathead River drops down to fishable levels. The snow in the mountains in and around Glacier National Park is still way above average. Summer will come, we just don’t know when.

Great trip to Cascade Ranch with Jackson

Rich — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:28:55 +0000

With the rise of the Flathead River, We decided to take a trip to eastside to fish a few ranch ponds. These ponds hold some hog rainbow trout. My 7 year old son Jackson caught some great fish. One of the ranches where we hunt has a small stream that is a tributary to the Missouri River. The Rainbow Trout were migrating up this stream to spawn and we were able to watch them jump a small waterfall. Very fun and my boy really enjoyed that.
Cold weather has still held on here in the Flathead valley and nearby Glacier Park. The river actually droppoed but is now back on the rise. Floodwaters are a reality in the coming weeks.

Flathead River is holding steady

Rich — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:09:37 +0000

The big bull trout we caught last week was worth seeing again so I published another photo of it.
The river is not rising as we espected. I haven’t fished for a week but it is probably still fishable. When the weather warms up we are going to see huge water in the Flathead basin. Our place is on the river, and I am mildly concerned about the potential for a flood. The snowpack in our area mountains is at an all-time high, and it is still accumulating! I see the mountains in Glacier got a lot of snow just in the last couple of days. I can’t wait for July!

Flathead River dropped. One more day of fishing!

Rich — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:22:05 +0000

I floated the middle fork of the Flathead River yesterday with Marc Evans and Steve Lund of Glacier Anglers. Steve caught a giant Bull Trout. This fish ate a small Prince Nymph and the fight was on. It was 33 inches long and probably weighed 13 or 14 pounds. What a fish! Marc and I each caught a couple of Cutthroats as we made Steve row the boat. The river is expected to rise rapidly now as the snow is starting to melt in the Mountains in and around Glacier Park.

The Flathead River is rising

Rich — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:25:04 +0000

I checked the Columbia Falls gauge today and the river is rising at a rapid rate. Even though it means the fishing is over for awhile, it is a good thing. The mountains in and around Glacier National Park have 130 percent of the normal snowpack. What that means is that all that snow will melt and bring the local rivers to near flood stage. I don’t expect to fish the Flathead River again until July. We will however, be taking folks fishing to the Missouri River and other places, based on conditions.

First guided trip of 2011 – Successful

Rich — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:32:12 +0000

Gary Rundquist of Moorhead, MN booked his trip through Stumptown Anglers, of Whitefish, Montana. I invited Professional Bull Rider Beau Hill along as Beau intends on guiding part time this summer. Its good for Beau to get as much river time as possible. The weather was cold but the fish were eating. It wasn’t fast and furious but certainly kept our interest all day. We caught 7 fish. We probably hooked another 7 but lost them. Gary did a very good job for having never casted a fly rod. As is often the case in early spring, the fish were big and fat. Beau fished streamers most of the day but finally switched to a nymph rig, resulting in a 19.5 inch cutthroat that was a big around as I have seen on this river. I am sure the fish exceeded 4 lbs. The picture is not great, having taken it from my Blackberry. Can’t wait for summer to arrive! I am excited to start fishing dries.