June was a crazy month from our business standpoint. The weather was bi polar.  We were on the MO a bunch, with my wife and I staying in our camper. Then we’d bomb back to Rock Creek, then back to the Mo, back to the Blackfoot, then Mo, back to Rock Creek, and even a Georgetown Lake fly fishing trip thrown in there.  In one week we had a 100 degree heat wave and a blizzard in late May, early June.  We white knuckle  rolled through 5 inches of snow on Rogers Pass to 100 degree drought on the Bitterroot in two days.

We had awesome friends/ guests from Texas the Waltons, the Kellys , and the News’.  We seem to connect real well with Texans sharing the love of the outdoors, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, family values, and our independent nature.  We also made some friends with new guests from Ca, and got to hang out with others from WA, and VA.

The fishing has been excellent from the MO, to the Bitterroot to Rock Creek, with a couple of solid days on the Blackfoot.  I was able to guide a father and son on Rock Creek for two days catching trout nonstop and in one day we saw 5 moose.

Currently, well the last two weeks, we have been in  a heat wave with 100 degree temps being the norm.  The fishing has been good early but we are attempting to preserve our trout fishery by not fishing late.  Trout are a cold river aquatic animal and thrive in cool rivers, lakes, and streams.  When the temp gets in the low 70’s they are easily stressed and the mortality rate from catch and release fishing is extremely high. Our  MT state fisheries Dept has put in place protective measures called ‘Hoot owl hour’ which close fishing daily at 2:00 pm.  These measures are important and will be in place until the water temps return to normal.

We’re plugging along and trying to have fun while not getting heat stroke.  Keep hydrated and when you catch trout try to avoid taking pictures and keep the fish wet.  When the conditions are tougher on fish we need to give the fish a break.  We have been doing some Northern Pike and small mouth bass fishing in the heat.  I’ll post on that later.

We wish you a  Happy Independence Week to all our fellow friends and Anglers from us at TroutZoola Montana Fly Fishing.