Clark Fork Fishing Report

Spring Clark Fork Fly Fishing Report

April 20, 2012

         The photo above was from a couple years ago in the spring in these same flows.  I can tell what I will talk about the conditions and the hatches and the spring possibilities.  I will not tell you that something is fishing well unless I have a reliable report, and those are hard to come by.  I think Fly fishing in Montana on the Clark and most of our Western rivers in the spring is what I call True Fly Fishing.

         The Lower Clark Fork at St. Regis has been stable for a week, like all of our other rivers.  It is a fun time to fly fish on the Clark Fork.  I can tell you this, I have had great fishing in these conditions over the years.  The heat coming this weekend might put it on the rise again, but the heat might also create a bug frenzy that can bring some high water trout to the surface.  The spring fly fishing on the Lower Clark Fork can be a dicey move that can pay off if you happen to hit it on the right day. The reason the reports are so vague is because nobody knows really, everyone is floating the Bitterroot.  So what do you look for?  The insect life in all rivers are on the rise.  There hatches include Baetis, March Browns, Drakes, Mother’s Day Caddis, and an assortment of stoneflies (skwalas, nemouras, capnias, and others).  As I will always state, the worm rig is an option, but I will not put that in every report!  That is too basic.  The river will be up in the willows and if the stoneflies come out, everything will be looking for them, including the birds.  Give it a shot and if it is incredible, then you have discovered an untapped resource for spring fly fishing options.  I would fish the triple threat.  I usually start with a skwala and a dropper and if the magic happens, maybe the dropper can just come off or be replaced with another dry.  If the action is slow or dead, then streamer fish and see if trout are chasing or being aggressive.  If no luck still, then maybe use all resorts of nymph tactics, maybe a 6 or 7 foot rig and work the seams and foam holes.

        The Upper Clark Fork is probably one of the biggest gambles you can try.  You can try up high and the flows at Turah are over 2000 CFS so use caution.  The Clinton to Turah stretch went thru major overhaul last year and left trees and jams all over.  This stretch is certainly not a beginner rowing stretch.  Your only option will be streamers and buggers.  There may be some fish in the foam holes on dries if your lucky, but this stretch needs to settle down.  The spring fly fishing on the upper stretches can be great.  I like using crawler patterns and hand tied zany streamer patterns of different colors.  

HATCHES:  Baetis, Drakes, Caddis, and Stoneflies

April 1, 2012

          The Clark Fork is not an option on the upper or lower stretches.  We will keep an eye on it and I will keep you posted.  One of the options to fish is the Warm Springs spillway.  This can be crowded, butf you can practice your tailwater nymphing with lightning bugs and tiny nymphs.  There are some monsters in there so that can be a fun option.  As soon as we can get some stable flows after these early pulses of spring run-off, the fishing can be exciting.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

 March 27, 2012

 Since the upper Clark Fork has shot up, it is apparent that the warmth has finally started the early, low elevation run off.  Rock Creek is running clear still, so sometimes that can mix with the off color upper stretches and create some fishable conditions below Clinton, but right now it is not looking good.  The Bitterrot is clear and there may be some visibility in the river on the lower stretches after it comes into the Clark Fork, but for now we have some early run off mud.  Things can change fast though, with colder temperatures in the forecast, the Blackfoot and upper reaches of the Clark Fork can stabilize and create some great spring fishing windows.  Good luck out there and make sure you do not go fishing in tributaries like Fish Creek because they are illegal to fish until the 3rd saturday in May.

March 21, 2012

The river otters are out fishing right now, so maybe you should too.  The Upper Clark fork has better visibility than the Lower Clark Fork, but after this winter snap, the rivers will stabilize and then rise with spring warmth.   Last week there was a pulse of warmth that nearly doubled the Blackfoot and caused the Clark Fork through Missoula and below Missoula to get pretty dirty.  So look for similar events to cause sedimentation as the recent and low elevation snow melts.  I actually fished in the low visibility last Saturday to avoid Bitterroot crowds and we caught several trout and a pike.  It was not good fishing, but it was nice to be out by ourselves.  There was only about 2 feet of visibility and we actually found about 4 spots that had trout rising on midges. 

TACTICS:  The most successful tactic was actually a streamer that we basically tried to swing across.  There were a couple hits not long after it hit the water.  Then a couple other hits came on the slow retrieve.  We tried droppers and missed some, but we did not have any skwala hits.  There were a couple pretty cool moments.  We came across this river otter that was having too much fun chewing the head off a whitefish!  We also found a few spots on the float with some trout feeding on the midges.  The midges on the Lower Clark Fork can look the size of baetis in the air, they are pretty big, even a size 18.  The feeding areas all had the same features, slow moving water with some foam.  Some of the large pools and cliff holes.  We had a couple shots at nice fish on midges, but never closed the deal.  There will be sparse hatching until this cold snap moves through and we get a little heat.  Unfortunately, with that heat, the low elevation melt from the Blackfoot will keep the river dirty.  It requires daily investigation in order to determine visibility.

UPPER CLARK FORK:  

I personally have not fished on the upper yet, but it can be fun to try streamers or double bead stonefly rigs.  Be careful in the Clinton-Turah stretch.  It changed a lot last year and there are lots of trees to beware of.  You can go up to some upper stretches by Deerlodge for an adventure.  or anywhere in there.  Keep on mind that these stretches will be experience changing flows this spring, so check the graphs and be wary of flood events that will have tributaries rising.    As a general rule, the term foam is home might help you.  I would not expect too many rising trout, if any, but you never know if you catch a skwala dry bite, I have had some great days over the years on skwalas.  Remember the Clark Fork has lots of woody debris and log jams so it is not recommended for the novice rower.

HATCHES: Midges, and maybe some skwalas.  Skwalas, baetis, and March Browns will come this spring when the true fun begins!