Jeff Ditsworth, Owner of Pescador on the Fly with a Montana Brown Trout
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year to fish. The leaves are changing colors, wildlife is on the move, and the fish are actively feeding. Our family took a little trip to visit our daughter during parents weekend at The University of Montana in Missoula in early October. I was able to slip away for a day of fishing before the festivities began. I got to fish with my new friend Aaron Bonsall, his instagram is @aaronbons. This guy knowns his stuff, and I would recommend him for any of you traveling to Missoula and want a great day on the water.
Upper Clark Fork, Montana
The plan of the day was to float the Upper Clark Fork, near Missoula, Montana. This stretch of river is known for it‘s brown trout, and it did not disappoint. We flew into Missoula the evening before and I carried on a couple of packable El Jefe rods in our new double pack tube. My standard set up for floating the rivers near Missoula is a six weight and an eight weight. Our new packable double rod tube is a great way to bring a couple of El Jefe rods with you on your trips. Since we decided to play the streamer game, our six weight got set up for nymphing, but didn't see any action.
El Jefe 8 Weight & Montana Brown Trout
Streamer fishing is exciting, but is a bit of work. Actively casting a large weighted streamer to the bank is a great way to fish when conditions are right. You get to work on your casting skills the entire day. The goal is to drop your fly at a slight angle, either up or downstream from perpendicular to the bank, and swim your streamer out in a jerky motion. I won’t get more technical on that today, but you need to work the fly to entice these predators into eating. We changed flies all day, depending on cloud cover and other factors. We fished yellow, yellow/brown, olive, black, and some white flashy flies too. What’s interesting is we caught fish on every color. Sometimes, I think you need to change flies for mental reasons for the angler, not necessarily to change things up for the fish because you are constantly fishing new water the entire day as you drift. It’s not like you are going to drift past the same fish twice and it would rather eat black vs olive.
Professional Guide Aaron Bonsall choosing our next streamer
We got into fish literally at the boat ramp, I had fish swirling at our streamer while my friend Aaron was parking the truck! Today was going to be a good day!
Beautiful Fall Day in Montana
The morning actually turned out a bit slow while the water warmed up, but we still hooked up with fish. Aaron told me that we would likely only catch brown trout today, and he was spot on. Most of the fish tore into the streamer less than five feet from the bank. Landing your fly within a foot of the bank, near trees, large rocks, or in eddies was the key. The best locations where these browns were holding and feeding happened in areas with large deposits of white foam. This foam forms on the rivers and accumulates in eddies and the adjacent slack waters. It almost spins slowly in this still water. I would simply throw the streamer right in the middle of this foam, give it a couple of quick strips, and boom fish on!
Montana Brown Trout
We didn't hook into anything huge, as is the hope when streamer fishing, but we did land 15-20 solid and beautiful Brown trout. We did have two that were pretty large, guessing 20-22 inches eat, but come off pretty quickly. I was able to watch them eat, which is super exciting. It’s amazing watching the streamer bite, you never know when it will happen, but Aaron and I were constantly hopeful around good areas. Just about everything looked like a good area!
Jeff Ditsworth, Owner of Pescador on the Fly with a Streamer Caught Montana Brown Trout
Until next time my friends, tight lines!
Jeff
Montana Brown Trout
My friend Aaron Bonsall with a Montana Brown Trout & El Jefe
Montana Brown Trout with an Olive Streamer
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