CFS: 416
Water Temp: 61-68°F
Dries: Spruce Moths, Small Hoppers, Purple Haze, Yellow Sallies, Crippled Emergers
Nymphs: Perdigon, TJ Hooker, San Juan worm, Pheasant Tail, Jumpin’ Jack Flash
FISHING REPORT
The heat is on across Montana. With afternoons reaching the mid-90s, all the rivers are feeling the effects. After reaching a water temp of 73°F for multiple days, several rivers have undergone hoot owl restrictions. This means they are closed from 2 pm – 10 pm until further notice. For an updated list of rivers currently under hoot owl, please visit Fish Wildlife and Park’s river closures page.
Fortunately, Rock Creek has never had hoot owl restrictions placed on it, and I doubt that will change this year. However, the creek’s temperature was just short of 70°F the past few days, and many of us feel even THAT is too much stress on the fish. So we’re asking anglers to keep the majority of their fishing to the mornings and late evenings to help give our trout a break during these hot days.
If you are dead set on going out from 2-10 pm, my advice would be to find an area of the river with lots of shade on the water or a section of Rock Creek that has a cold mountain stream feeding into it (Ranch Creek, Butte Cabin Creek, etc.). The water in these spots will be the coolest on the creek, and the fish in these areas will be a little more responsive because of it. Even in these areas, get the fish in and back out as quickly as possible while this heatwave lasts.
When in doubt, bring a water thermometer and see what kind of temps you are dealing with. This chart does a great job of water temperatures and the effects they have on fish.
As for what fly patterns to use, there are a lot of options. If you like dry fly fishing, look to the early mornings and late evenings for the best production. There are still some caddis and mayflies (as well as spinners), and their crippled emerger counterparts are particularly good right now. Try CDC or Quigley cripples in colors like olive, tan or cream and tie them 1 – 1.5 ft behind your main dry fly.
Terrestrial insects are working well right now too. Fish small hoppers, ants, beetles and even a few spruce moths in the mornings. If the bug is buoyant enough, drop a Copper John or Perdigon a couple feet behind it to cover both surface and sub-surface fishing.
For nymphing, I’ve been a big fan of using a tungsten jig nymph as a lead fly and then putting something smaller or lighter behind it. For example, I recently fished the combo of a TJ Hooker with a San Juan worm in tow. The TJ was heavy enough to act as a surrogate split-shot to drag the lighter worm down, and the trout went after both patterns. There were no HUGE fish being caught, but the nymphing definitely saw bigger trout versus dry fly fishing.
According to the weather report, this heat wave will be short-lived, which spells good news for both fishermen and fish. Still, I’m sure we will see more hot, 90+ degree days before summer ends, so keep this report in mind when that happens. There’s still some great fishing to be had on Rock Creek!
