Montana Angler Fly Fishing Blog

If variety is the spice of life then life is pretty good when fly fishing in Chile near the central Patagonia town of Coyhaique. In our travels to different regions of Patagonia over the last several years the Aysen region of Chile has proven to offer some of the most diverse opportunities for fly...

The thermometer read -11°F on New Years eve in Bozeman, Montana as I boarded my flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Early season skiing conditions were sketchy and the cold was making any sort of outdoor activity a challenge. I was happy to be leaving the frigid temps behind for a few weeks to...

It is hard to pull a fly fishing magazine off of a shelf and not find an article or photo of Montana. The shear number and density of world class trout rivers in the state rivals any other location in the world. Rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, Bighorn, Missouri, Gallatin, Big Hole, and...

Rocks always hold trout in streams and rivers. Island rocks on the Madison river are like normal rocks on steroids and are probably the single best type of trout habit found in a river. Island rocks are special types of medium to large rocks that are surrounded by much smaller sediments like sand or...

Some of the best fishing of the year occurs just after runoff subsides. Post runoff fishing can be very good for a variety of different reasons. First, trout have not been fished to in several weeks; it is hard to fish when you are dodging floating debris! Second, water temperatures are hitting the...

We are now into April and our snowpack across Montana is healthy and above average. For those of you were out here three seasons ago when we had the record breaking high water year we aren’t expecting anything like that, just a near “perfect” scenario of slightly above average snow. Generally...

“Do you have anything bigger” was Eduardo’s response when he looked at my attractor dry fly box after we arrived at his fishing lodge in Chilean Patagonia. As a Montana fly fishing guide I pride myself on my collection of “big ugly” rubber legged, foam laden dry flies. Apparently my copious supply...

The Salmon fly hatch in Montana is one of the world's most legendary fishing spectacles. It ranks near the top with fishing the giant migratory tarpon of the Homosassa flats, site fishing to back country New Zealand trout, Tierra del Fuego sea run browns, the green drake hatch on Penn's Creek and...

Trout are smart. Their peanut sized brain my not afford them the kind of intelligence needed to use sign language with their fins or swim a choreographed ballet at sea world, but they do have the cunning to identify fake food with a hook in it. The fact of the matter is that trout remember getting...

This is one of our most commonly asked questions. It is also one of the most difficult to answer. As with most fishing related conversations the initial answer to questions inquiring about the best time of year is “it depends”. There are several reasons why selecting a single time of year to...