Late March is one of those sneaky good times to fish Montana. Runoff hasn’t fully kicked in yet, but warmer days are starting to bump flows and add a little color to the water. That’s not a bad thing — slightly off-color rivers are making fish less picky and more willing to chase.
The Madison, Missouri, and Yellowstone are all producing with nymph rigs, especially midges and baetis patterns. Cloudy days are bringing consistent blue-winged olive hatches, and dry-fly anglers are getting some solid action in the afternoons. Streamers are also a great option right now, especially as flows begin to rise.
It’s a short window before things really blow out, so if you’ve been waiting to get back out, now’s a good time to sneak in a trip.
