Fly fishing Montana is a right of passage or at least a bucket list item for many fly anglers. Montana trout fishing will rival any place in the world for diversity and quality of their trout streams. If you are on the hunt for Montana fly fishing destinations, you've come to the right place.
The entire west side of Montana sits on the continental divide. Meaning waters flowing on the western slope of the divide eventually dump into the Columbia River and head to the Pacific Ocean and rivers on the eastern slope eventually make it to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River.
Oddly enough, the rivers of southwest Montana head east via the Missouri and the trout rivers in the northwest and north-central head west as tributaries to the Kootenai and Clark Fork.
I'll divide the fishing into east-slope and west-slope rivers to keep it straight. The majority of east-slope fishing is within reasonable striking distance from Bozeman, Dillon and Twin Bridges. The exception is the Bighorn and parts of the Yellowstone.
The west-slope rivers are a little more spread out. Many can be reached from Missoula and Kalispell but the drive is farther.
Like the Bighorn, the Kootenai is a river all to itself but worth the trip.
Before we get detailed, many of Montana's rivers deserve to be on this list. It would take a novel to fully document all of the great fly fishing in Montana. I will include a few more rivers at the end and their proximity to the main rivers I'll discuss below. Think of it like a menu. You should consider fishing these other options as a side dish when you head to one of the main rivers on this list.
For each main river I'll suggest a few other rivers you may want to hit if you're thinking about a side trip.
The Missouri River, according to the state of Montana, is the longest river in the state. It has historical significance with the Lewis and Clark expedition to find a passage west to the Pacific. With headwaters east of the continental divide, the Missouri flows to the Atlantic, joining the Mississippi River just outside of St. Louis.
Stay with me for a second here… The Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers, with a little help from the Ruby, form the Jefferson River near Twin Bridges. The Jefferson then joins the Madison and then almost immediately picks up the Gallatin River at three Forks. That’s where the Missouri River or the mighty Mo is born. Talk about a trout fishing name drop! All of the rivers that form the headwaters of the Missouri belong in the fly fishing hall of fame. (I'll get to them in a second)
The Missouri is dammed up to form Canyon Ferry Lake then Hauser and Holter Lakes. That chain of lakes gathers all of the potential in the river and spits it out as an amazing tailwater river below Holter Dam. When people talk about fly fishing the Missouri, this is the stretch of river that they’re generally speaking of.
The first 30 miles of river, starting at the dam and running downstream from Holter Lake is trout fishing nirvana. State wildlife agencies estimate 5000-6000 trout per mile call this stretch of the Missouri River home.
A quick trip from Craig, Montana, access to this section of the mighty Mo is easy from Interstate 15. That means float fishing from a drift boat or personal watercraft and walk and wade trips are options. It also means this stretch can get a lot of fishing pressure. That said, this is a big river with a lot of water and fish.
Big hatches occur on the Missouri River throughout the spring and summer. But this stretch also offers year-round fishing opportunities. Try fishing the shoulders (Spring and Fall) if you want to avoid some of the angler pressure. Depending on weather, you may get all the great fishing and none of the crowds.
If you love dry fly fishing or throwing big streamers for trophy brown trout and rainbow trout then a pilgrimage to the Missouri River should be on your bucket list.
Big Hole River
Beaverhead River
Smith River
At the mere mention of fly fishing in Montana the Madison River immediately comes to mind. It is one of Montana's most famous rivers. Based largely on excellent trout fishing.
A combination of incredible scenery, easy and abundant fishing access, and larger than average sized trout, even for Montana, make the Madison River a must fish river if you plan to fly fish in Montana.
The Madison is just about the middle grounds between Bozeman and Dillon on the Montana side and Island Park in Idaho. All of these cities are annual pilgrimages for anglers from around the world.
Being central to all three means the Madison gets a lot of traffic during the fly fishing season. Especially during the Salmonfly hatch in mid to late June.
The Madison River originates in Wyoming, inside Yellowstone National Park. The confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers at Madison Junction are humble beginnings for what will become the “50 mile riffle”.
After exiting the park, the Madison is one of several tributaries that form Hebgen Lake. The lake is a great place to fish for “Gulpers” if you get the chance, but that’s for a different article. After exiting Hebgen dam, the river fills Earthquake Lake (locally known as Quake Lake) which was formed when a rock slide choked off the river bed during a massive earthquake in 1959, naturally damming the canyon.
Just below Quake Lake there is a short but aggressive section of whitewater that holds more interest for rafters than fly fishermen. After a quick, turbulent plunge from Quake Lake the river hits the Madison Valley. Loaded with wild trout, this is the stretch of the Madison that has earned it's fabled reputation.
They call it the "50 mile riffle" because rather than go through the normal cycle of riffle-run-pool it is literally 50 miles of pocket-water. The riverbed is wide and consistent in slope. Constant mid-stream boulders break up the shallow water and form eddies as targets to cast at. The river moves at a brisk pace meaning if you’re fishing from a boat, decisions have to be made quickly with anticipation and casts need to be accurate.
It takes a while to understand the nature of the Madison River, but once you have a feel for the pace and figure out how to read her water, the river is generous with amazing rainbow and brown trout that fight like hell!
The stretch between Quake Lake and Ennis gets consistent hatches in the summer and can be fished quite effectively with dries, nymphs, dry-dropper combinations and streamers.
Fishing the “buckets” or pockets of deeper water and edges of current breaks created by countless boulders is a great way to attack the Madison. You should also look for undercut banks with streamers if you’re hunting big brown trout.
Probing the pockets with a dry or dry-dropper combination is also a great way to spend the day and catch some quality trout on the legendary Madison River.
Beaverhead River
Big Hole River
Ruby River
Hebgen Lake
Quake Lake
The Box Canyon and Henry's fork In Last Chance (Island Park) Idaho
The Bighorn River is a tailwater fishery in south-central Montana. With prolific hatches it fishes like a giant spring creek. It is one of the most productive trout streams in the country. As a result, anglers from all over travel to this short section of river to fly fish for larger than average rainbow and brown trout.
The majority of fishing pressure on the Bighorn comes in the 13 miles just below Yellowtail Afterbay Dam. This section of river winds through the Crow Indian Reservation. However access is plentiful. In fact this section of river can get crowded during the summer months. Wade access is available but most choose to float the Bighorn.
Like the Missouri, the Bighorn River fishes well in the winter. It's one of the few places to fly fish in Montana 12 months out of the year. That said, this part of Montana can get very cold. If you come from November through early spring be ready for the cold and wind.
The Bighorn has prolific hatches but nymphing techniques are the mainstay and streamer fishing can also be very effective during the right time of year.
This is a tough one for fishing but the Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument (Custer's Last Stand) is nearby and it's worth seeing.
The Yellowstone River also originates inside Yellowstone national park near Yellowstone Lake, and flows uninterrupted until it meets the Missouri River in North Dakota. At 700 miles the Yellowstone River is the longest free flowing river in Montana and offers blue ribbon trout fishing opportunities.
Paradise Valley, between Gardiner and Livingston, is a setting fit for a Montana postcard. Rimmed by snow-capped mountains, the valley floor is rich in agricultural land and home to the Yellowstone River. It is the image most people picture when they think of fly fishing in Montana.
You can catch trout in the Yellowstone River all the way from the park to Billings but the section of river that runs through Paradise Valley gets the most fishing pressure because of it’s proximity to Livingston and ease of fishing access.
This section of the river is wide and mainly flat. There is plenty of opportunity to wade but because of the river’s volume it is better fished from a drift boat or raft. The trick to fishing this section is finding structure that fish will orient on. At first, the river is intimidating. Flat, wide, and featureless the question is where to start. But with some experience the holding water will become obvious. When in doubt, fish the banks but the entire river holds fish in good numbers.
Heading over to Yellowstone National Park and fishing the Madison, Gallatin and Yellowstone rivers where they originate.
Fishing some of the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks available on private land.
The Gallatin is another river born in Yellowstone National Park. Inside the park the Gallatin fishes like the meadow stream it is. However, once it exits into the wild it takes on a different nature. Flowing for 40 miles past Big Sky and through the Gallatin Canyon the Gallatin is wild and scenic. Add to that, there is no float fishing allowed in this section and it makes for a wade fisherman’s dream river.
In this stretch the river is primarily bordered by National Forest land with several access points along the route. Well forested slopes and canyons are the setting for some epic fly fishing. In fact, this river is so scenic that it was the set for many of the fly fishing scenes from A River Runs Through It.
This stretch of the Gallatin is swift with a high gradient. It flows consistently cold since it is born in the high peaks of Yellowstone. The best fly fishing on the Gallatin is from mid-summer through early fall.
Rainbow trout and brown trout make up the majority of the fish population with a few cutthroat thrown in for good measure.
The Gallatin is a great dry fly river. Probing the banks and pockets with attractor dry flies can be a very productive approach on this river.
Below the confluence with the East Fork of the Gallatin, float fishing is allowed but access is limited in this agricultural setting. Floating the lower stretch is just about the only way to fish it.
The river eventually joins the Jefferson and Madison rivers to form the Missouri River in Three Forks. The scenic nature of the river lends to excellent fly fishing the entire way.
With great access for walk and wade fishing and the scenic nature of the Gallatin, this river is made for the DIY angler looking for a wild day of fishing.
The Madison
Hebgen Lake Gulpers
The Box Canyon and Henry's Fork in Nearby Last Chance (Island Park) Idaho
The Flathead River is a tributary of the Clark Fork River. It drains a huge area of the Rocky Mountains west of the Continental Divide and northwest of Helena.
The fly fishing in the flathead river is legendary. Native Westslope cutthroat trout are the main species with a few rainbows thrown in for good measure. The main stem of the river is large and can be intimidating but there are many good spots in the separate forks for wade fisherman and drifters.
The South Fork of the Flathead is one of the greatest wilderness fly fishing rivers in the U.S. It begins and flows through the Bob Marshall Wilderness and is choc-full of native Westslope cutthroat trout and a few rainbow trout to boot. The beauty of fishing for cutthroat trout is their willingness to eat dry flies. Standard attractors like Chernobyl Ants or Stimulators in sizes 4-14 should cover most of your fishing. If they get a little picky, think about a dry-dropper presentation with a bead head PT, Copper John, or Rainbow Warrior.
The South fork offers the solitude of trout fishing in a wild place. You will not face a lot of fishing pressure from other anglers fly fishing since the river flows through wilderness. But you will have to walk to get to the water. A pack trip, whether it's backpacking or on horseback is a great way to experience some of the best wilderness fishing in Montana.
Be aware, this is bear country, the big brown kind... So if you go, make sure you are prepared with the necessary bear deterrents and precautions.
The South Fork of the Flathead is one of very few places left in the US where you can still target bull trout. There are some strict limitations though. Check current regulations if you go. Since bull trout are considered threatened, they are strictly catch-and-release. If you intend to fish for bulls bring heavy streamer gear and sinking lines. They are predators.
The Flathead River near Glacier Park Drains a big portion of Northwestern Montana, including Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Above Flathead Lake, the river flows through the upper Flathead Valley. The river is gin clear, wide, and best fished from a drift boat. The water in the Flathead is glacial and usually cold throughout the summer. One of my best dry fly fishing days ever happened on this stretch of the Flathead.
The main-stem Flathead flows west then northwest, through Flathead Lake, into the Clark Fork near Paradise, MT.
The river is a mecca for dry fly fishing with caddis and mayflies making up the majority of the hatches in early summer. Late summer will see terrestrials like hoppers and ants. Streamers can also be productive, especially in the spring when the fish are feeding heavily prior to spawning.
There are many good access points along the length of the main-stem but the sheer size makes it ideal for floating.
Fishing all of the forks of the Flathead.
The Kootenai River flows west out of Lake Koocanusa, below Libby Dam. It is unlike many of the rivers in Montana, just based on sheer volume. With the state record rainbow on it's resume, it boasts some of the best trout fishing in the entire region.
The Kootenai River is the largest river in the area. It's origins begin in British Columbia, Canada and flow for 485 miles through western Montana and northern Idaho before heading back across the border into Canada.
Flows on the Kootenai are regulated by Libby dam, meaning they can vary and be erratic. Summer months see the heaviest flows. As a result, the Kootenai River can be difficult to fish without a boat. The width and volume of water makes it tough to walk and wade.
The Kootenai offers a couple of things that set it apart. Quality trout fishing for both Westslope cutties and Redband rainbows as well as an opportunity to hook into a giant. The other bonus is that you will face very little fishing pressure from other anglers.
The towns of Libby and Troy, MT sit on the banks of the Kootenai but they are pretty isolated. Situated in the northwestern corner of Montana the Kootenai gets a lot of the moisture coming from the Pacific Northwest. Meaning the local forests are green, lush, and loaded with pines. It literally smells like fly fishing if there is such a thing.
Fishing the Kootenai can be daunting the first time so I strongly recommend you hire a guide for the first couple of days if you decide to give this river a shot.
The Kootenai is isolated in northwest Montana but this is a long river with good fishing for miles. You should consider staying for a couple days to experience different floats.
The Bitterroot River in western Montana is approximately 175 miles long, running from its headwaters in the Bitterroot Range to its confluence with the Clark Fork River at Missoula.
The Bitterroot is one of the most popular places to fly fish in Montana for early season fishing. It has a spring Skwala hatch which accounts for some of the earliest fly fishing trips in Montana. The river will see a lot of early season action from anglers looking to shrug off winter
Nestled between the Bitterroot Mountains on its western edge and the Sapphires to the east, the Bitterroot offers Montana anglers a shot at quality fishing for cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout.
Between the early Skwalas, mid-summer Green and Brown Drakes, and late summer Tricos, the Bitterroot has substantial hatches to satisfy the dry fly purist.
Natural beauty, great fishing and abundant hatches make this one of the great trout streams of western Montana.
Rock Creek
Big Hole River
Beaverhead River
Yes, this is the same Blackfoot River made famous by Norman Mclean's book and movie, A River Runs Through It. It is still a fantastic piece of water. This freestone river runs 130 miles from the Bob Marshall Wilderness to meet the Clark Fork River near Missoula.
Much of the Blackfoot River over that span has quality fly fishing. Which is odd for a river with such easy access available off of Highway 200.
The scenery is a perfect Western Montana mix of sage, pine and agriculture. The fishing can be even better than the view. Multiple hatches and eager trout make the Blackfoot River one of the most consistent dry fly fishing rivers in Montana. Which says a lot! The Blackfoot boasts all the trout you'll need in every flavor, brown, rainbow, and cutty.
The river makeup of riffle, run, glide, pool.... wash, rinse, repeat... with a little whitewater mixed in make it a fabulous place to hunt for big trout and catch lots of 14-17" trout along the way.
If you are going to fly fish in Montana the Blackfoot should definitely be on your list!
Rock Creek
The Clark Fork begins as Silver Bow Creek in near Butte and Deer Lodge MT. This river has a troubled history and was once one of Montana's endangered rivers. Pollution from the massive mining operations in Butte combined with copper smelting in Anaconda caused major environmental challenges at the headwaters. Today, however, the Clark Fork River is one of very few success stories of a super-fund sight cleanup.
Like the Missouri River to the northeast, the Clark Fork River gathers some of Montana's great west-slope trout fishing rivers on it's way to the Columbia. Those rivers include Rock Creek, the Blackfoot, Bitterroot and Flathead rivers.
The Clark Fork is famous for big rainbow and brown trout. Fishing access is abundant. You should approach the river as two separate sections, the upper section above Missoula, and the lower section to the west of the city. Anglers on the upper section should fish below where Rock Creek meets the Clark Fork. Streamer fishing, nymphing, and dry flies are all effective on this stretch for good populations of rainbow and brown trout.
With the addition of the Blackfoot just above and Bitterroot below Missoula the river gains a lot of volume. Float fishing is the name of the game on this stretch. Along with rainbows and browns, native cutthroat trout can be caught on this section as well.
Blackfoot River
Rock Creek
Beaverhead River
Big Hole River
An exceptional river for wade anglers Rock creek would be a great addition to a Clark Fork, Blackfoot or Bitterroot trip.
An amazing fishery outside of Dillon, MT. See for yourself how good the fishing can be.
A fantastic freestone river between Butte and Dillon with historical significance. The Big Hole is also the only remaining river in the lower 48 with native fluvial arctic grayling.
Flowing through private land within an hour of the Madison, Beaverhead and Big Hole the Ruby river is often missed. It is a great little river with abundant hatches of PMD's and caddis and excellent terrestrial fishing during hopper season.
Many people rave about the Smith River. My understanding is that it is an incredible piece of water, It is also tightly managed with a permit system for river access. As such, I have not fished it. My friends who have fished the Smith River tell me it's well worth the effort of applying and making the multi-day pilgrimage.
If you are even entertaining the idea of heading to Montana to fly fish...DO IT! The state is amazing. The fishing can be spectacular. The guides are mostly professional and will help you improve on the water and the people of Montana are friendly and kind.
If you're coming from the east coast and used to fishing for brook trout, Montana fly fishing rivers will rock your world. If you're coming from the west or the south Montana's mountain setting and Big Sky will feel like heaven.
No matter where you live, every serious angler needs to fly fish Montana at least once in their life!
