June Forecast
June is right around the corner and with it will come some of the best fly fishing of the season in Montana. Looking into the upcoming month, dry flies are sure to be on the menu on all of our area rivers. PMDs, Caddis, and the granddaddy of them all: the Salmonfly, will all be hatching by mid-month. June is probably the best time of the year to target trophy trout with dry flies as the big fish take chances and get sloppy with all of the food around.
Expect to find our Montana fly fishing guides and anglers primarily fly fishing on and around the Missouri River most of the month. May has been wet and cold, delaying runoff on our rivers closer to Bozeman to what will likely be the end of June. Great time to head to Craig, MT and join us at our Missouri River Basecamp for a fly fishing trip. Flows below 10K will keep our Missouri River trout looking up and on the feed. Salmonflies will be on the Blackfoot River before you know it. Flows are looking to be right for good fishing and great floating on the Dearborn River through the middle of the month.
2019 Salmonfly Hatch
Salmonfly madness always starts up in June in Montana. The big bugs will start to show up on some of our smaller, lower elevation rivers by the 1st of the month and by the end of the month, will have passed through or be hatching on just about every freestone river in the state. Need to know where to go?
June 1-15:
• Rock Creek
• Blackfoot River
• Bitterroot River
• Firehole River
June 15-30:
• Madison River
• Big Hole River
• Yellowstone River
• Gallatin River
There are lot’s of other places to find them off the beaten path as well. You can bet when these bugs hatch, even the biggest of brown trout will be looking up for them. The hatch on the Madison River is one of our favorites for targeting big fish. Pick your favorite flies, tie on some 0x tippet, and hold on!
While the Salmonfly hatch certainly gets most of the hype for anglers in Montana, the PMD and Caddis hatch on the Missouri River can’t be overlooked. Some of the best sight fishing of the year for big trout goes down in June. The Missouri River will be fishing well from top to bottom. Find your fish and make your first cast count.
There is a reason many of our guides are booked a year in advanced or more for June: the fishing in Montana is just that good. We still have some availability, but would recommend booking your trip sooner rather than later if you are thinking about a Montana fly fishing trip in June 2019. Look forward to seeing you on the water soon.
