Skwala on the Brain

It’s officially spring in Montana, one week it’s 60 degrees and sunny and the next week its a blizzard! I love it. We need the snowpack, the precipitation and the cooler temps. It gets old dragging my boat on the river late summer, trying to beat that early morning hootowl. Bring on the snow and I can only hope for more as our spring continues. It seems that those early warm days we had got the fish interested and on the hunt for some food. In my earlier season floats we saw lots of midges and a few baetis in the light drizzle we floated through. But in recent days, the stoneflies have moved around, flipping rocks and searching a few banks have led to some promise for our anticipated spring skwala bite. The time has arrived and if you find yourself on the river on the right day at the right time you might get to experience some of the best dry fly fishing Montana has to offer. Windows can be short however, and I wouldn’t rush out of the door at day break. It seems like noon is when the fish start waking up and 2pm when the bite is turning on. Dust off the rod, grab your best pal and go fishing, just don’t forget to dress for all four seasons!