It has been a long month. I have been on the water every day guiding, all over Montana. Most of the Montana rivers have been typical for the month of August. Most of the waters were borderline dangerous for the fish in the afternoon. We as guides and outfitters work very hard to inform our clients of the conditions of the rivers during the summer months. Like most anglers in the state of Montana we were off the water or stopped fly fishing by 2:00pm for the safety of the fish. When the tempature of the water gets to 72 degrees the mortality rate of trout greatly increases. Needless say lots of anglers were looking to the Blackfoot river in western Montana for fly fishing for trout. The Missouri river and Bighorn rivers also saw great numbers of anglers over the past month.

This is all changing now. With the loss of daylight and the cooler tempatures the trout are becoming more active. I have seen three black bears in the past week. Winter is on its way and fly fishing is heating up again in a big way. If you have any desire to fish before the winter hits then get out and wet a line.

The fall weather sparks a feeding frensey for big brown trout. The brown trout are feeding and getting ready to spawn. Big streamers work well in the fall, if you can chuck them all day. It is the time to cast them in hopes that you can catch that fish of a life time. Start looking for October caddis and Hecuba’s to tie to your line for great numbers of fish landed during the day.

Remember to be safe and have a good time on the river!