Spring in Montana… rain and wind one day, sunny and pleasant the next. This has been the trend the past few weeks and looks to continue. The water is high, but so are our spirits. The high water is brought on by this last winter’s heavy snowfalls and an anticipated wet spring, which, hopefully, will provide us with fantastic dry fly fishing throughout the summer. So, have faith! Nymphing is continuing to produce fish day in and day out. If you’re in a boat or raft,stay on the safe side by having life vests and even a rescue throw rope at the ready. Right now, the big swirls can swallow you up if you’re not careful, so consider giving them a wide berth. The most notable whirlpools are the ones after the first bend at the Dam on river-left. Jackson Rock is pretty gnarly and at over 30′ deep. You don’t want to go swimming there!  Across from Bernies can be hazardous. The worst one is probably at the jumping rock near Mountain Palace.  It’s best to just fight the back eddy on river-left and stay far away from the rocks on river-right. We don’t want to freak you out about floating the MO right now, but please have a very big dose of respect for the flows.  NEVER drop anchor in water that’s flowing at walking speed or quicker or deeper than you’re willing to wade.  Basically, only drop anchor tight to the bank in slower to dead water.

Holter Dam pumping out 18000+ cfs

Enjoy the river, though, because the fishing is great and the scenery won’t disappoint with plenty of cool wildlife all up and down the river corridor. We do have some extra traffic from Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell and other locals because the rivers in those areas are totally blown out, but please remember proper river etiquette and be respectful of other floaters and the few wade fishermen out there. Smile, communicate amongst each other, and have fun fishing. Cheers!

Big flows & big bows