May Fishing Report | Missoula Fly Water | Missoula Fly Fishing Guides and the Missouri River

About 24 hours after my last fishing report went out, a cold front moved in and dropped another 14 inches of snow above 5,000 feet, pushing local snow pack levels back up to around 90% in many drainages. Prior to an early May heat wave that kicked off runoff around Missoula, the Bitterroot was producing excellent March Brown dry fly fishing.

With flows running high throughout April, it was difficult to predict where snow pack and runoff would land for the remainder of the season. The water we have been receiving will be great for the overall health of the fishery.

While the rivers around Missoula in early May remained high, the Missouri River near Craig has been nothing short of spectacular. Flows have remained low at around 3,000 cfs, making the fishing feel a bit more spot-specific at times, but overall the action has been consistently strong. Early in the month, Blue Winged Olives were the primary hatch before quickly transitioning into caddis, which also came and went in a relatively short window.

Then, on May 15th, we saw the first signs of the PMD hatch — roughly six to seven weeks earlier than normal. Given how unusual this spring’s weather patterns have been, not much comes as a surprise anymore. Sow bugs were producing well during the early morning hours, and once the rain cleared out midday, the river absolutely came alive with baetis and PMDs. The fishing was nonstop, and we stayed on fish until our arms gave out.

The Missouri River in May has been an outstanding option for Missoula fly fishing guides. The rivers around Missoula are still high and pumping with snow pack but they should be coming into shape soon. The consensus among most is that we have way more snow than we originally thought. The Bitterroot has peaked twice now at 8000 cfs and with this weeks rain who knows where it will top out at. Temperatures in the long term forecast are below 75 which should help the rivers drop for a great month of fishing in June. Here is a photo from a Delta flight taken just days ago of the Selway / Bitterroot wilderness. The snow pack is looking pretty good!