Montana Angler Fly Fishing Blog

The cost of a Montana fishing trip can vary quite a bit depending on where you stay, where and how you eat, and if you fish with a guide. With some of the world's best destination fishing lodges and a diverse offering of waters from small streams and spring creeks to large tailwaters and freestones...

Spring and summer-time fishing in Montana is often defined by when snowmelt runoff begins and ends. From year to year, the exact timeframe of our runoff period varies, but it typically begins in mid-May and runs into mid-June. Montana’s freestone rivers like the Gallatin and Yellowstone often run...

Sometimes less is more. Such is the case when it comes to fly fishing in New Zealand. There are many that would find it peculiar that we choose to travel to the other side of the earth to catch less fish than we would at home. The truth is there is simply something magical about the quality of the...

You've heard it before: trout spend most of their time feeding below the surface. But how do you catch what you can't see? Seeing a trout eat a dry fly might be what we all dream about and what originally brought us to love fly fishing, but mastering your ability to fish a fly where you cannot see...

The foam Chubby Chernobyl fly was so chewed up that I had to change it, and I asked the guide if I should try something else. “It doesn’t matter,” he said nonchalantly, sitting in the middle of the raft. Sure enough, a couple of casts later another rainbow trout swam up out of the willows and...

Cut to the scene: snowcapped mountains are backdrop by a Montana river and snow falls softly on the water's surface, disappearing as they melt. Your cast lays out perfectly placing the fly into a fishy looking seam and the hope a fish will take grows. Winter fly fishing in Montana is a unique...

I grew up on a small dairy farm in central Massachusetts. A meadow extended from my grandparent’s farmhouse to a brook loaded with sunfish, largemouth bass, pickerel, and hornpout. I learned to fish there, casting gummy salamanders one year and whirligig bass lures the next. There were some great...

Winter can be a great time to get out and explore Montana’s world-class trout fisheries. Most of the state’s premier rivers are open to fishing year-round and a day on the water can result in some impressive fish. An added benefit of winter angling is the chance to enjoy some solitude on the water...

Montana locals and loyal anglers have always debated what is the best month for fly fishing in Montana. Because every month offers something unique, the answer is complex and personal. Some months feature consistent dry fly fishing while others serve up very high catch rates with subsurface nymphs...

The quintessential picture of fly fishing in Montana is often long summer days with blue skies, sun-tanned anglers, and prolific hatches. Fly fishing in winter provides adventurous anglers unique opportunities that do not exist when the weather is warm and the living is easy. For those willing to...