Montana Rivers although unstable this time of year are starting to produce some fantastic dry fly fishing opportunities.  Across the state there are many opportunities to catch nice fish on Big DRY FLIES! That is hard to beat for most fly fisherman.  Keep in mind that prior to driving to a river for fishing, you should always check with local river fly shops to check on current river flows and conditions. I think this weekend could be a fantastic weekend to get out fishing and here are my Top 5 Dry Fly Fishing Rivers.

1. Rock Creek:

Lots of fish and tons of dry fly eats! This is as good as it get for dry fly fishing in Montana. Perhaps the best dry fly-fishing for the entire year in Montana! I fished Rock Creek yesterday (6/11/2012) and we put close to 40 fish in the boat during a short float.  For every 1 fish we landed we probably had close to 3 strikes on our different Salmon fly variations.  The top fly for the day was an elk hair/bullet head salmon fly followed by the famous Cat Puke.  We also picked up a handful of fish fishing the slow waters with a Grey Drake. For up to they day information on the Salmon Fly hatch visit www.rcmerc.com

2. Big Hole

The Big Horn should be rocking and rolling this weekend. The big stone flies are out and should be out in full force by this weekend and they river should really start to fish well. If all goes well and the weather cooperates the Big Hole could very well give Rock Creek a run for its money by this weekend!

3. Beaverhead:

The Beaverhead has really been fishing well all spring and will continue through the early summer.  The PMD’s are out in full force as are little sallies. If you want some constant fishing and dry flies the Beaverhead will do the trick.

4. The Bitterroot:

Salmon Flies, Drakes and Goldens are now officially out with Salmon Flies on the East and West forks.  The warmer weather has bringing more and more of the big bugs out. The river should continue to fish very well as long as the weather rains decent.

5.  The Missouri

The Mo continues to drop after the big bump of the flows a few days ago. The Missouri can fish great this time of year and will produce some very nice fish. Although dry fly fishing will not be your best but you will still be able to find willing rising fish if that is what you are seeking, try PMDS, caddis and midges.  Double nymph rigs of with San Juan worms, eggs and flashy nymphs will put more fish in the net.

Report Provided by Kjel Olson of the MORS team