Kootenai River — Flows from Libby Dam were 8,000 cfs last week and the water temperature at Libby Dam was 54 degrees. Hatches are midge, caddis, PMDs and nocturnal stoneflies. Patterns: Zebra Midge, Parachute Adams, Yellow Haze, Parachute PMD, Rosenbauer’s Rabbit Foot emerger, KPPT, Water Walker, Purple Haze, purple Chubby, red Chubby, Bugmeister, X-Caddis, Caddis Pupa, Bloom’s Caddis, tan Sparkle Dun, purple Chubby, BH Prince, soft SJ Worm, BH Pheasant Tail, BH Rubber Legged Stonefly, big streamers in white, pink and olive, Circus Peanut and black conehead Buggers. — Linehan Outfitting, Troy.
Lake Mary Ronan — Perch fishing has picked up in front of the state park and west toward the old lodge. In front of Camp Tuffit is a good spot, too. — Zimmer Bait and Tackle, Pablo.
Madison River, Lower — With low flows and extremely hot temps, it’s probably best to leave this river alone till things cool down in September. If you do decide to fish the lower, go very early in the morning, use barbless hooks, get fish in as soon as possible, and do not take fish out of the water as this exponentially increases mortality. — Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.
Madison River, Upper — The upper is a great place to be right now. Even with the recent hoot owl restrictions, temperatures have remained in the safe zone for trout. There have been nocturnal stone sightings, therefore, fishing a black and tan Chubby with a Caddis in the early mornings has been very productive. In the midmorning to early afternoon (before 2 p.m.), the hopper-dropper rig is the hot ticket. For droppers, anything small and flashy will get the job done: Split-Case PMDs, Green Machines, $3 Dips, Purple Deaths, Worms, Shop Vacs, black & brown Rubberlegs, and your favorite Caddis Pupa are all good bets. There have been some big fish coming on the early morning streamer bite recently with cloudy days better overall. Streamer color has been variable, but typically black and olive are great colors on cloudier and rainy days and yellow and white are our favorites for those sunny days. — Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.
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