Fall in Montana: Breaking the Summer Habit

When fly fisherman think Montana often they think summer. The underlying reasons behind this approach make sense. First, the weather is stable and those that take a week long shot out west want the conditions to at least be decent. Most have heard horror stories of what happens when you roll the dice on a fringe week early in the year, or later in the season when conditions are blown out and/or filled with snow. Secondly, the dry fly fishing is consistent for the most part, with trico hatches along with caddis and PMD’s being heavy on the Missouri River, and other tailwaters throughout the state. Terrestrial fishing begins to come into its own in July and tends to improve throughout the summer on the freestone rivers assuming river temps are not too warm.

I never thought to go against the grain on this consistent fishing window until I attended Montana State in Bozeman in the fall of 2006. I drove out west with my dad in Mid August and on the way out we hit the Bighorn. The Black Caddis hatch was heavy and we did well on dries that looked nothing like black caddis which was a nice change of pace from my technical home waters of the Delaware. However, once I got to Bozeman around August 20^th of 2006, I found the fishing was not that good, particularly if you were limited to fishing on foot like I was that freshman year. The big rivers were tough to cover on foot, and even when I did wade them I didn’t see much happening. No bugs and a lot of blind fishing with hoppers to fish that were on average 12-15’’. The smaller streams allowed for better coverage on foot, but I pounded “fabled” waters like the Gallatin, and other lesser known streams with my best fish being no bigger than 16’’ on most days. I found this frustrating, since the Delaware was the exact opposite with the fish being on average large and 18’’+. I didn’t want numbers I wanted big fish and I assumed heading out to Montana would provide that. It was tough to find quality fish in the first month I got to Bozeman. Honestly, the only thing that saved me that first month was the willingness to knock on a few rancher’s doors despite one that had a sign on a fence that said ” there’s nothing here worth dying for” with a gun on the poster. However, these folks were all bark and managed to resist the urge to shoot me, and were surprisingly generous giving us permission to fish their property. We caught some nice fish- but nothing that matched my perhaps unrealistic standards of what I thought Montana was.

Regardless of my lack of success, I fished literally every day from August 20^th to give or take December 1, 2006. They say Montana State has the highest drop out rate in the Nation, and I’m not surprised. Focusing on the first two months I was there, I witnessed a summer to fall progression that taught me more than perhaps any 60 day window has ever taught me in my fishing life. Shortly after Labor day, we got hit with a week of classic Montana fall weather where the temps dropped from 90 to 40 and we had snow/rain for a week straight. From a visual standpoint, the abrupt and dramatic change was one that , for a moment, made a new resident question how far off the grid you should go to catch a trout. It looked like hell on earth had arrived. That said, I knew trout and shitty weather go hand in hand, and turned to my favorite local shop for guidance on where to go for a big fish now that the fishy weather had arrived. Broke as could be, I bought 6 sculpin and crayfish patterns from “troutfitters” in Bozeman which offered a 15% student discount on flies, and took their advice in heading to Beartrap canyon on the lower Madison.

The drive from Bozeman to Beartrap Canyon was about 30-40 minutes and in that time the weather had gone from rain to snow. I pulled into the lot that indicated I could drive no further and started walking straight, as I was directed to keep walking until I hit my first big bend in the river. I did just that, and when I got to that bend I saw the first piece of big water that was both flat enough to dry fly fish and wadeable since I had arrived in Bozeman. It was a 1-3 foot deep pool that had weed beds and offered habitat to bugs and fish alike. That day, I must have landed 30 fish, mostly rainbows with a few colored up brownies in the 18-22’’ range. It was my first breakthrough day. The take away(s) were (1) shitty weather is great here (2) no temperature is too cold for the fish out here (3) very few people are fishing in the fall months,particularly in the nasty weather .

As the fall progressed, I began to realize the fish migration, and prespawn activity that ensues in Montana is not just a theory that you read or hear about, but something you actually witness if you are on the water during the fall season. I saw a dozen fish or so that exceeded 25’’ that fall and caught a number of 20-24’’ browns that I swore were a few inches bigger before I put them on the tape. These fish were found in everything from big rivers like the Yellowstone, to small tribs that will remain nameless. Ultimately, witnessing the epic transition from summer to fall fishing in the fall of 2006, both visually and from a fishing standpoint caused me to fall in love with fall in Montana. The weather might be unpredictable, or it might not, but the fish were there and the real big fish made their appearance at that time.

Since that fall, and since departing Montana as a resident, I’ve made it a point to get back to Montana in the fall most years for the reasons mentioned. For those interested in the fall fishing, but deterred by the weather and alleged crap shoot that it is- you may want to reconsider. The fall offers a better chance at a true fish of a lifetime in Montana, more options in terms of fishable water when compared to the summer months, and far less people. And no place is more beautiful than Montana in the fall months.

The most interesting aspect of fall fishing out west that contributes to the adventure is marginal water gets good again. Water that was 80 degrees, held carp and no trout holds a healthy number of 20”+ fish in a matter of a few weeks when the cooler nights and soon after cooler days make temps tolerable again for trout. This drop in temperatures coincides with the pre-spawn window for browns and has the effect of getting a lot of fish moving around to different stretches of water, including those that were not suitable for trout merely weeks before. This presents opportunities to take fish on a variety of methods, my favorite being the dual approach of run and gun streamer fishing and dry fly fishing when you find heads. Most rivers out west offer a 2-4 hour window of as good as it gets dry fly fishing in the fall (particularly on cloudy days) with olives, midges, and caddis while also keeping you busy throwing streamers for the that signature fish of the day on the move .Below is a perfect example of two fish my dad and I pulled out of a remote tailwater in October within 15 minutes of each other , one on a size 22 olive and the other on an olive clouser.

My fall favorite is the Missouri River. For one, the crowds are 10% of what you see in July which can be very crowded. Secondly, come October the weeds are gone and the drifts are clean allowing for more enjoyable dry fly fishing and streamer fishing that wont drive you nuts with weeds on every cast. Lastly, the big browns make a more regular appearance come fall, which lets be real for any avid trout angler means something over another 16-18’’ rainbow that at some point feel like carbon copies of one another. For those that doubt the fishing is “trico” good in October. The bug life and surface activity is the same as you saw in July , instead this time its on size 18-20 olives:

Finally, for the angler trying to budget costs, airfare and prices generally for lodging are cheaper. As said above, if you can tolerate the perhaps grueling weather, the conditions do little to hurt the fishing, and usually improve it if you have a patch of cool weather and precipitation.

Thank you for reading and feel free to follow up with any questions you may have about fishing Montana or a potential fishing trip on your radar.