Another Season is done!

Well as another great trout season wraps up here in Montana I can't help but think that it was all of the great customers that came out this year that made it all worth while.  We had great trout fishing right through the third week of Oct. both in the Missoula area and on the Missouri.  The last couple of weeks I have been traveling between steelhead spots in Idaho and bird hunting spots in Montana and thinking about next trout season.  Tomorrow we are headed to far eastern Montana to chase roosters for a couple of weeks and then back to the Missoula area to hunt elk until I get one or the season closes.  My wife and I will be taking customers down to a lodge in Chile in January to fish for trout (hopefully huge ones) on the other side of the world.  Spring comes early in Montana and fishing is great by early March so let me know if you are interested.  Here is a steelhead I caught the other day that went about 7 or 8 lbs.  Cheers and be well.  Tightlines!

Fall is here!

Well fall is finally here and with the cooler weather the fish have really turned on in the last week.  Our summer was a pretty hot one this year and although hopper fishing was decent it just never had a chance to get rolling since afternoon air temps were so high.  With the cooler air temps of the last week we are seeing great hatches of tricos every day and are waiting expectantly for the Mahogany's and Baetis to get rolling soon.  I still have some openings in the first two weeks of Oct. if anyone wants to get a couple of days of fantastic fishing in before the snow flies.  Let me know.

Hopper Season is Here!

Well July is over and with it most of the stoneflies.  Even thought we had a hot month the fishing over all was great on all three rivers and my customers where fantastic!  Thanks again.  We are now in the transition to big terrestrial stuff, hoppers mostly and Tricos should arrive soon as well.  We are still in great shape water wise so the next two and half months should have great fishing opportunities for those of you who haven't  yet gotten to Montana this year.  I still have some openings in August, Sept., and Oct. so give me a call or shoot me an email.  I am taking the next week off to hangout with the wife and do a little steelhead fishing in Washington with my dad and when I get back we are going to be pushing grasshoppers for Montana's finest trout.  Talk to you all soon and see you on the water.  karl@sheerwaterguides.com

Bugs are here!

I will keep this short and sweet.  Summer is here for real the number of different bug species on our rivers currently is simply amazing!  Goldens, PMD, 2 types of Drakes, Yellow Sallies it all here and fish are eating them.  It is going to be an awesome next couple of weeks! 

June and the bugs are here!

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The "Old Bait and Switch"

Things in the last week have really started to fish well,  With Salmon Flies on Rock Creek and the West Fork and soon to be on other area rivers things are really looking good for June/July.  We have recently had some awesome fishing on the Blackfoot for trophy trout and here is the story of two different situations in the same day.  We were fishing the lower Blackfoot with slop rigs when one of my customers picked up a nice 16 plus inch rainbow a second or two later a big bully came up and tried to eat the 16 inch rainbow.  Since the rainbow was to large to eat easily my customer pulled his trout away from the Bully.  Mean while, while all this was happenin no one noticed my customer in the back of the boat winding up for the cast.  He slammed his streamer inches from the Bully and since it was an easier meal than the rainbow the bully tooked it a promptly ripped us out into the backing.  After a rather exciting 15 min. battle we landed a beautiful 28 inch bull trout without a single mark on him.  The day was a success but wasn't over yet.  After a couple of hours and countless large brown trout hookups my customer in the front of the boat hooked what has to be the smallest trout ever hooked on the Blackfoot.  While we were laughing and giggling about how small it was, out of nowhere a huge bully came up and ate the tiny trout like a dry fly.  When my customer automaticly set the hook the tiny fish came flying out of the water and smacked my other customer in the face in the back of the boat.  While we were all laughing about what had just happened we had forgotten that there was still a streamer in the water and all of the sudden the customer in the back of the boat yells I have a fish on!  We all look over the side of the boat to realize that in the absence of the tiny fish the bull trout wanted to eat he had found that other streamer and hooked himself when we were not looking.  The big bully shook his head and spit the fly and sunk below the surface but now we have proved that the "old bait and switch really does work.  The most interesting thing about fishing in late May and Early June is that you just never know what kind of experiences are out there.  Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow and see what lays in store!  karl@sheerwaterguides.com

May and Summer is almost here.

This 2012 spring has been one of my favorite springs of all time!  After a great spring Skwala Stonefly season, my wife and I headed south to Moab, Utah with our Airstream trailer and two faithful yellow labs for ten days of mountain biking and hanging around in the desert of Southern Utah.  I got back to Missoula fished a couple of days and then headed to the Florida Keys to fish for Tarpon for four days.  Although the Tarpon catching wasn't all that great I jumped a couple, feed some more, and had a huge number of shots at big ones.  It just wasn't meant to be since the weather and wind wouldn't give us a break.  Even though we had a really good snow pack this year in Western Montana, it seems tha the temperate spring has the snowpack coming off earlier than the last couple of year and our Salmon Fly fishing should be off the hook this year!  I would look for them to start as soon a the 1st of June and last until late June.  Things are really shaping up quickly around here so if you haven't booked any days yet get ahold of me and let me or one of my guides show you just how good fishing can be in the Missoula area.

Summertime!

First off just want to say thanks to my customers who made this one of the best springs ever.  Even though the water conditions were tough at times you all stuck with me and we had great fishing.  The bug hatches were excellent right up to April 20th so get on board for next year.
  Summertime.  We are headed into the primetime of the year.  It starts on the Missouri this month with caddis and baetis and then by the first week of June we should have great Salmon fly fishing around Missoula.  We have a great snow pack this year contrary to everywhere else in the West and conditions look like they are shaping up for a great season.  I believe this is going to behave like a normal summer season with awesome dry fly fishing all the way through.  I still have some dates available personally and can always set you up with a great guide so give me a call or check out the website or like us on facebook.  Thanks again and tightlines!

April and the bugs are all over the place!

Well March was great fishig! As always everyone has cabin fever and the Bitterroot is clogged on the weekends by anyone that can find a floatable craft.  Didn't seem to hurt the fishing however as long as you had a trick or two up you sleeve to avoid the traffic.  Skwalas were again out in force this year by the 20th and fish have been looking up in the afternoons consistently on most days.  With last weekends blowout (the root nearly doubled in size) the crowds have thinned out and the river is up at a level that really fishes well  if you know where to look.  We are seeing good numbers of May Fly's as well as Skwalas' now so come on out and get some.  We should have solid fishing until April 20th or so and if you can 't make before runnoff starts in Western Montana there is always the Missouri river and all of the fine fishing that can be found there in the spring.  Get ahold of me at karl@sheerwaterguides.com.  Tightlines.

March Madness

Although March madness isn't quite here the Bitterroot has really started to fish in the last week.  I have been out there the last three days in my new Bitterroot Skiff (check out our facebook page to see pics) and fishing has been solid to great with only the occasional fish eating a dry we are depending on the dropper to get things done and underneath the big fish are on the chew.  I would think in the next few days we should begin to see solid numbers of Skwalas out there and the dry fly fishing picking up in the afternoons.  We have had a week of near 60 degree temps so things should happen somewhat earlier than last year.  I was also over on the Missouri earlier in the week fishing with a buddy and the streamer bit was pretty solid in the afternoons.  We are looking at an average 100% snow pack so things should settle back to normal this year and we should see solid fishing for the whole season with very few suprises.  More to come.  karl@sheerwaterguides.com

Feb.

As the winter winds down we continue to get good moisture both in the form of valley snow/rain and mountain snow and are looking really good for the coming summer. Last week I finally got out of the boat shop and headed to the Oregon coast to fish for winter steelhead. We had decent fishing and landed some nice ones each day. The new skiff is coming along nicely and sure is a looker! It should be done in a week or so if I can keep up the pace. I have set this one up with both front and back casting braces so it has a stand and fish option just like a driftboat but with the wider hull foot print and flat bottom so it runs in really shallow water. Can't wait to get this one out on the water. If the weather continues to warm slowly like it has been doing we should begin to have decent dry fly fishing by Mid March and great dry fly fishing by the 20th of March and I still have a few openings for the spring Skwala Hatch. Shoot me an email if you are interested @ karl@sheerwaterguides.com

First Trout of 2012

While the winter hasn't been exactly freezing and cold we have great snow packs and will continue to get more.  We have been having these warm spells recently so on Sat. a buddy and I drove over and fished the Missouri River in Central Montana and it is official, the trout are biting in 2012.  We had great nymph fishing and could have caught fish on Midges if the wind would have laid down for a second.  I haven't yet been out but have heard the Bitterroot is starting to fish as well look for midging fish and skwala nymph action in the afternoons.  Mostly I have been holed up in my new boat shop creating a low side bitterroot skiff for this year.  I was so pleased with last years design I needed to refine and create once more to try and perfect the final product.  Our season starts around March 20 around here and that mean there should be dry fly fishing by that time, we will begin to be able to catch consistent numbers on nymphs in a couple of weeks.  I still have openings in March and April so give me a call and get on the books for one of the best dry fly fishing times of year!  karl@sheerwaterguides.com