Unlike most anglers, many of our guides revel in swollen rivers.  Not high and muddy but bank full and green.  In fact I would argue that the biggest trout in a river are more accessible in high water situations than they are in low clear conditions.  This is counter intuitive to be sure, Common sense says that the lower the water – the more confined the fish – thus the more easily they are to locate and catch.  Reallity is that when a river is low and clear the fish are spread accross the river, anywhere from bank to bank and, they are spooky.  Running full, river trout are typically very site specific. In wandering rivers like the Clark Fork or Bitterroot they are congregated in sandbar drop offs and slick deep slow backwater channels.  In boulder strewn rivers like the Blackfoot, they find refuge in the soft inside corners and long slow moving banks.  In both instances trout will be aggressive and disregard shadows overhead and oars splashing around them.  Green water is good!

I am not saying that we won’t catch any more large fish now that the rivers are clearing and dropping. But the days of easy targeting top end fish will continue to get more callenging with each inch of dropping water and visibility.  Now is the time when hatches matter more and weather tends to effect catching the top end fish more severly.

Speaking of catching … I need to go pick up my clients and prove this theory wrong!  Good luck out there.

Father and daughter get in on maybe the last day of easy big days... One of plenty-a-big bow eagerly awaiting our offerings on sand bar drop offs recently.