Tip of the Week
Flows have been on the rise for the past 4 days. The overall water volume is high from this early runoff but the visibility is decent. Wade with caution and stick to the softer edges where the fish are sheltering from the heavy current.
7-Day Outlook
Rock Creek will see a warming trend this weekend, with highs starting in the 40s and reaching the mid-to-upper 50s by Monday. Expect mostly sunny skies and calm canyon winds for the first half of the week before a cooling trend arrives on Wednesday, bringing a solid chance of rain and snow showers.
Best Techniques
We are seeing some dry fly opportunities right now with March Browns, Skwalas, and BWOs all making appearances depending on the day. Start your mornings focused subsurface, then transition to a dry-dropper rig in the afternoon when water temperatures peak. Streamer fishing should continue to improve.
Montana Fly Company
Solitude Fly Company
Solitude Fly Company
Solitude Fly Company
Solitude Fly Company
Montana Fly Company
Montana Fly Company
Montana Fly Company
2-3ft
48F
High and off color
The warmest part of the day
Anywhere you can publicly access the river. Options are limitless.
Upper: Gilles Bridge Lower: Valley of the Moon
Cutthroat, rainbow, cutbow, brown, bull, some brook trout, and whitefish.
Open year round, but catch and release for trout during winter.
MSO (Missoula International Airport)
9' 3X or 4X for single dry or nymph rigs. 7.5' 3X for dry-dropper rigs. We only go down to 5X when fishing tiny dries to picky fish. No need for 6X here.
3X-5X will cover almost all of your fishing applications. Don't use less than 2X for streamers.
A 9' 5WT is still going to be your do-it-all rod here, especially when nymphing or dry-dropper fishing, but we like to size down to a 8'6" 4WT for fishing single dires. A 6WT with a floating line, or light sink tip is all you need for fishing streamers.
Scientific Anglers Amplitude MPX
A 3ips sink tip is all you need for Rock Creek, unless you are fishing during runoff- then go heavier. We frequently fish streamers on floating lines here.
Missoula, Montana's family owned, Orvis-endorsed fly fishing company.
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