July 7 Annual Meeting Fishing Report

The fishing in southwest Montana has been excellent!  We do have some low rivers and have had some warm weather which has prompted Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to implement some "hoot owl" restrictions on fishing on the lower Madison, Jefferson, lower Gallatin, and Big Hole.  These afternoon and evening closures are based on objective data relating to flows and temperatures.  The good news is it has cooled off some, and we've been getting some timely rainfall.  It is HIGHLY unlikely any of these sort of restrictions will be in place by the time we start our Annual Meeting fishing!  

I was fortunate to spend a week on Slough Creek leading a TU Veterans Service Partnership couples trip of 5 couples and 5 TU volunteers.  The dry fly fishing on Slough Creek was spectacular with Green Drakes, Pale Morning Duns, and Golden Stones, and our group of "newbie" fly fishers were catching 10-20 fish per day on dries!  I told them all that they'd set a VERY high bar for themselves! :)  I returned to Bozeman from Slough Creek on July 2nd, and on the 4th and 5th, I had the pleasure of guiding Kyle Amundson and his TU friend Greg of the Kiap TU Wish Chapter who purchased a trip our Madison-Gallatin TU Chapter swapped with Wisconsin TU.  Kyle, Greg, and I fished the Madison and the Missouri. The Madison was productive for a bunch of small fish, but the fishing conditions were impacted by downstream 30-40mph winds.  We still had a fun but exhausting day.... Our second day was on the Missouri River, and we arrived at the boat ramp in Craig to find a massive cloud of Trico spinners dancing along the river.  We had some fine dry fly fishing on Tricos and a smattering of other dry flies, caught some very nice fish, and lost and broke off a few, too.  The fishing on the Mo more than made up for the Madison!  

We're going to have a wonderful Annual TU meeting in Bozeman.  The dates of the meeting, September 28-October 1, are during what many, including me, consider to be the best time of year to fish in southwest Montana.  If you are considering attending the meeting, please register ASAP and get signed up for the fishing day activities!  

Dave Kumlien-MGTU member, 40 year Montana fly fishing outfitter, and coordinator of the Annual Meeting fishing day!