Western Montana Fly Fishing Resources

Welcome to our Western Montana Fly Fishing Resources page. We’ve put a lot of thought into making our resources page a valuable and interesting resource for the local and traveling angler. Hatches, Rivers, Seasons, Fish Species, Months and so much more will provide a lot of general information about what to expect when fly fishing Western Montana. If you want to find out what insects you can expect to encounter during the year, Hatches will tell you the where and when. Rivers will give you an overview of what to expect as you venture out onto our local rivers. If you’re coming at a specific time of year, the Seasons will give you a solid base for what you’ll find when you arrive in Montana.

Understanding Streamflows

The Streamflow section isn’t critical most of the year, but from April 15 through July 10 stream flows definitely affect your Montana fly fishing. This section allows you to estimate water conditions when you head to the river. If you’re interested in learning more about reading streamflow, see our blog about interpreting the streamflow graphs (here). Stream flows are also useful in deep winter and high summer. Many of the gaging stations have a thermometer, and you can go to the specific station and see the temperature of the river. In winter, water temps will let you know when the spring hatches may start, or how active the fish might be. High summer, when water temps can be a bit high for trout safety, the temperature data will let you know if fishing mid-day will be detrimental to the trout. Going to the USGS site can provide a lot of information for your Western Montana Fly fishing experience.