In early March, you can start looking for Skwala stoneflies. They are similar to salmonflies in appearance and habitat, though they are smaller.
The Skwalas are related to the little yellow stoneflies though they do not belong to the same biological family.
For more information about the Skwala hatch, give us a call.
Here are some photos of skwala we saw on the Bitterroot River a few days ago. See the slideshow below.
My brother, Roy, came from Whitefish to fish and float the upper Bitterroot on Sunday and were surprised that we saw only two other boats. The first of the boats was another guide but the second was Rob who had come down from the Kalispell area to fish with George. It was great to see them and introduce the northern boys (Whitefish and Kalispell are in northwest Montana) to one another, albeit while wearing fishing gear including hats and dark glasses and floating by on a fairly fast river. It is kind of like meeting someone while skiing. You might never recognize them in street clothes.
The river was up enough to be pretty fast and a little bit cloudy, especially where the tributaries flowed in. We did see skwala, but not very many. We worked hard at trying different patterns and even some nymph fishing. The morning fishing was slow, but we had better success in the afternoon.
The slideshow below will take you down the river by photographs. By the time we got to the take-out, I was busy keeping the puppy close so I stopped taking photos just above it. I did capture an old car rip-rap bank, various birds, pretty cliffs, stone outcroppings, vistas, and of course some trout.
Click View Album to view in a new, larger window.
To throw in some drama, I will post a photo of geese flying over and an osprey on that same stretch of the Bitterroot River.
Doc Bolton is up from California again. He has a small house on the Bitterroot now and comes up at least a couple of times a year. He is fishing about four days with Jack and today, Terry Nobles is in the boat. I will pick them up at the take out. I can’t wait to get some more photos of Terry. Click Terry Nobles for more blog entries about him.
Here is a slideshow of Doc’s fishing. You will see different days, different sections of the Bitterroot River.
View Album, click here to view in a new, larger window.
Then choose “Slideshow” to get a full screen view.
Well, we are having spring weather!
Two days ago it was freezing, now our lows are 36 degrees and our high for today is forecasted at 68 degrees. Currently, in the late morning it is about 50 degrees.
Warm weather will bring the bugs but it will bring down the snowpack, too. The upper river has come up close to 200 cubic feet per second (CFS) in the last two days. If we can have cool nights as forecasted, we will have an orderly, slower rise in CFS and better chances of great fishing.
Nice photo of John. Yes, he is always this happy!
Click http://www.wapiti-waters.com/stream.htm to see links to weather in the Bitterroot, USGS water data sites, and snowpack information.
No doubt the snowpack that has been laid down since the first day of spring will be welcome in late July. Right now, however, it’s definitely caused a few cancellations as some of our anglers think it’s too cold to fish. It is hard to argue with that. For sure these are some of the coldest water temperatures we have ever guided on! Yet, there has been good fishing without a lot of bugs yet.
No, we have not resorted to the use of indicators and nymphs…PLEASE! Spring angling is about finding a few fish “looking up.” It is about getting the rust out of your cast; reminding yourself that sometimes you need to mend downstream, not only upstream, in order to get the extended drift; and it is about making a slow, firm hook-set when a fish does happen to inhale your dry fly. You had better have just enough line slack to drift your bug just right but not too much line slack reducing your control and reaction time. Early spring fishing is about the joy of casting a single, buoyant big stonefly dry or mayfly pattern and observing the sights and sounds around you, the life that is teeming on the river and banks. So for me, it is not about hooking a bunch of whitefish or watching a bobber all day long… this is my philosophy. 
Yes, there are those that want to fish with droppers off of large dries or indicators in nymph rigs. Many anglers coming from a tail-water expect their guides to produce lots of fish and have lots of action. So be it. I do respect their right to lose as many flies as possible on all the woody debris that is found on the Bitterroot River. With that said, yesterday was the first bright sunny day in three weeks after clouds and snow, and it fished tough. We found big fish tight to some cover and a few out in the open lanes. It turned into a good day despite the conditions.
