HATCHES HATCHING
Winter fishing provided the odd appearance of midges or blue-winged olives on the surface, but for the most part, we couldn’t rely on dry fly fishing from October to March. That’s about to change in a big way with water temps on the rise as mid-day temps push into the 60s the next few days.
Warmer weather will trigger both an influx of Skwalas and March Browns any day now. While many anglers flock to the Missoula area for these hatches, southwestern Montana rivers also support these bugs in high numbers. Fishing these overlooked hatches is a great way to get some early-season action without any crowds on the water.
Though you may not see a ton of fish rising like during other big spring hatches, you can fish a skwala adult on the surface like a hopper. It’s a great way to prospect for opportunistic trout that are hungry after a long winter–we’ve taken some big fish this way!
This week we’re headed up to the Missouri River for a couple of days of jetboat trips. Any day now, this fishery will see an explosion of blue-winged olives. Embrace those rainy, overcast spring days because they create one of the most prolific hatches in Montana, which when fished from our jetboat, makes for a one-of-a-kind Big Sky fishing experience.
These hatches will quickly be followed by more bugs emerging, including the famous Mother’s Day caddis hatch, so make sure you’ve got your Montana fishing license and your TOTF guide booked!
SPRING SNOW AND RUNOFF
It wasn’t a great ski season here in Montana, but our snowfall hasn’t been as bad as many have made it out to be. We’re looking at snow water equivalents in the 70-80% range for the Madison, Gallatin, and Upper Yellowstone basins. Not ideal but enough H2O to make for a fine spring and summer fishing season, and as we saw last week with 7-inches in town and more in the mountains, just because it is spring doesn’t mean the end of snow in Montana.
Storms in April and May (and sometimes June) usually bring wet, heavy snow with high moisture content that adds greatly to the snow water equivalent. All that is to say, we’re ready to fish and are expecting to be on the water through August–if you want to join us, book now because things are getting busy.
In the coming weeks and months, most of that snow is going to start melting, and run-off will make many Montana rivers unfishable. But again, don’t worry. We’ll still have plenty of places to fish including sections of the Madison, the Missouri River, spring creeks, lakes, and parts of Yellowstone National Park.
In fact, when the big-name rivers are blown out, it is a sneaky-great time to get on the water when a lot of anglers are at home refreshing CFS gauge readings on their computers.
EXCITING EARLY OPENING
In case you haven’t heard, starting this year, Yellowstone National Park is allowing fishing three weeks earlier than usual. The whole park won’t be open to fishing, but for the first time in decades (and maybe longer) anglers will have access to the Firehole, Gibbon, and Madison rivers on May 1. Each of these waters is heated by some form of geothermal activity, so they are primed for early-season fishing.
This is an amazing opportunity to fish these rivers before summer crowds and heat make them unfishable. We’ve been amazed at how few people, locals included, are aware of this change so if you’re looking for a new experience on some un-fished water, book a trip now.
Keep in mind, other than the year-round section of the Gardner River, the rest of the park is still closed to fishing until the traditional Memorial Day weekend opening. Also remember that fishing in the park requires a Yellowstone fishing permit available on Recration.gov: https://www.recreation.gov/activitypass/08486201-71ff-11eb-90d3-9eb840e09acc
Visit the National Park website for official regulations: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishing.htm
NEW SEASON, NEW STUFF, NEW STAFF
We are ready for 2026 to kick into gear and are ready to roll. Our online shop is stocked with new shirts and hats that make great keepsakes of your time on the water. For those who are coming during the height of summer, we have a load of sun hoodies en route as well.
To make sure we can accommodate you no matter how big your group or how small your feet, we just went out and expanded our stock of SIMMS waders and boots. Brand new, these babies will make sure you are comfortable no matter if you are fishing in early season cool temps or on warmer summer days.
The last few weeks we’ve been bringing on new guides who know local waters and are used to working with all experience levels. With this new crop ready to start the season, we are taking in new bookings every day. As soon as you know when you want to fish, let us know and we’ll lock down a guide for you. Let’s Go!
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