The Blackfoot River is very low right now, sitting at approximately 397 CFS down from around 569 CFS this time last year. Water temps are staying down in the mid-forties throughout the day and getting down to the mid-thirties at night. Cool weather and overcast weather have had the fish up and feeding actively throughout the day. Water volume is still very poor, with little improvement with the last month’s precipitation. We’ve been advising anglers to be conscientious of the low water levels. In many spots the river is too low for a raft, and it can be risky in a hardboat.

Dry fly fishing has been great this fall. Temperatures are finally low enough the morning mayfly hatches are starting a little later in the morning, and peaking a little later in the day. Usually, this time of year they’ll get going as the sun becomes visible and usually peak about mid-afternoon. From then until late afternoon the dry fly bite will slow down a bit. For that mid-day lull we recommend alternating to nymphing, streamer fishing, or the ever-reliable hopper-dropper rig. Late in the evening the October caddis will appear as the sun goes down, and that is some of the best dry fly fishing there is in the fall.

Streamer fishing has been very 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. Alternating to a deep pool or a lower elevation spot can help you find some more actively feeding fish. Fishing lightly weighted patterns on floating lines or short sink tip lines that aren’t too aggressively weighted themselves should be the move as you’ll find yourself dodging more rocks in the pocket water than plumbing the depths of river pools right now. Galloup’s Kill-Whitey, Craven’s Swim Coach, and the conehead Sparkle Yummy patterns are our go-to patterns right now. The water is extremely low, so look for areas with tributaries coming in, deep river pools, or those hidden undercut banks. Any overcast or rainy day will make for some incredible action on the streamer.

Nymphing is always good, and a great way to fish the slow hours between the mid-day to early afternoon lull between hatches. once the dry fly action slows down, it’s always a good move. Of course, some folks would rather get some miles on their new euronymphing combos, and to those folks we’d advise having a few dries on hand for when the hatches are in full swing and the nymph jiggling gets slow. “Cracked back” patterns like the hot spot PMD, Blowtorch Hare’s Ear, or Crack Back Bullet are great imitators of the ascending mayflies before they hit the surface and emerge. Larger nymphs like the double bead stone, TJ Hooker, or Pat’s rubber legs are great stonefly nymphs for indicator rigs whether your indicator has a hook on it or not.