Flows are way down, Currently the river is sitting at approximately 653 CFS, down from around 803 CFS this time last year. Water temps are getting down in the low-forties at night and staying down in the low-fifties during the afternoon highs. There is a lot of exposed timber at the moment, though Stevensville down to Missoula is pretty clear. The heavy rains we had earlier in mid-September helped bring some much needed water volume and cool water to the river, but its still one of the lowest years we’ve experienced. Lake Como is too low to release any water from painted rocks dam, so there’s not any other supplemental water coming in either. We do have some rain in the forecast, so hopefully we’ll get another bump in water volume before winter.

Early morning fishing will see hatches of BWOs and Mahoganies, with late evenings bringing hatches of October Caddis. With the early mornings and late afternoons being the bulk of the dry fly fishing, we advise fishing the mid-day lull with streamers or nymphs. Fish will still go for a dry in that slow period, but it’s also a good time to alternate to a streamer or nymph. The ever-reliable hopper dropper rig is also a great way get a little more activity mid-day with the chance of opportunistic fish going after the dry.

Streamer fishing has been good. Right now the biggest browns have completed their fall run and are staging up on redds. There are still a lot of juvenile fish moving through the river and actively feeding, but if you see big fish sitting on pale patches of gravel and not moving off the spot those fish are actively spawning and sitting on their eggs. Do the right thing, don’t try to fish for them and try to get out of the water and walk around them without disturbing the fish on the redd or agitating any sediment that could otherwise kill the eggs. It’s easy to tell when someone is targeting spawning fish, and it’s easy to tell which trophy browns were caught off a redd. Don’t be that guy. Alternate to the main river or a lower elevation spot if you’re seeing fish on redds, there’s always active fish somewhere. Larger profile flies that push water like the Dungeon, Wedgehead, Kill Whitey, or Silk Kitty have all yielded good results.

Nymphing on the root is always a good option, but the bug activity recently will mean that fish may be still looking for dries while they’re still around. Perdigons, Sunken tricos, and Hare’s Ears have all brought in good returns for some of our staff. Swing into the shop to get geared out on all the essentials to make the day a good one on the water.