April is well under way and so is the famous Skwala hatch on the Bitterroot River. So far it has not been disappointing. Fishing a dry fly all afternoon has been consistent and steady on most days. Look for more bugs, March Browns, Ameletus, Numora, Skwala and even Midges and BWOs to take fish regularly. Lots of traffic on the river right now. I’d say far less on the upper portion of the river. The dry fly bite seems to be picking up around 1:00ish and lasts all the way till dusk. Pick your favorite Skwala pattern and roll with it. Lots of different bugs working right now. I’d say smaller is better though. Dry dropper in the am will keep you busy, perdigons , rubber legs, worms, stonefly nymphs we have tons of different varieties here at the shop that work. Run it 2-3” below a larger Skwala dry and target drop offs and slower, walking speed water. Riffles will start holding more fish as we start seeing more mayfly activity as the water warms up. Looks like we’ll see a bump in flows next week with the warm weather but should settle in nicely for the foreseeable future. Gonna be a great weekend on the water be safe and have fun. Play nice out there.
**See our March 26 River Report for obstacles in the river
Darby: 211 CFS
Bell Crossing: 335 CFS
Missoula: 644 CFS
