The best time to fly fish Montana is definitely in the Summer months. We have hopper fishing as well as stoneflies coming off and the bigger fish are definitely looking up. While the bigger fish move into the shallows to find terrestrials some smaller fish are most certainly in the deeper water looking for bugs the bigger fish aren’t looking for.
The streamer game over the summer is also extremely good. We have Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout eating smaller fry that isn’t a secret. if you are proficient at throwing streamers to the bank and stripping them off you will find yourself wildly successful catching trophy trout in freestone rivers.
Now Tailwater fisheries fish completely different. They are dependent by man to determine the amount of flow that comes out of the dam. The best times to fish in Montana are in the early Spring on the Missouri, on this tailwater they catch a lot of fish and are ready to accompany people ready to catch big fish and a lot of fish.
The Bighorn River is one that shocks a lot of people. It is a river that brings in a lot of people but with all the boats, brings in disappointment, until people start catching fish. Than it is apparent that it is a destination place where everyone decides to join in. unfortunately it is highly sought after and people collect there wanting to catch a fish over 20″ which is very possible on this river.
The best time to fish to fish Montana is Summer Break.
The freestones around including the Stillwater and Boulder are class 3+ rivers and nothing to be joked about. They will swallow a drift boat in seconds and that is why no one talks about them. If you have a raft you might consider it and if you don’t then just forget about it. You better know what you are doing before putting a boat on those rivers.