Best month to fish the Blackfoot River

Month-by-month fishing quality

Why these months?

Two things decide your odds on the Blackfoot River: flow and season. You need the river in its fishable-flow band — so a freestone in spring runoff is out no matter how good the hatch would be, while a dam-fed tailwater holds shape year-round. On top of that, the hatches and water temperatures line up best in July and August and September and June, which is why those months edge out the rest. The Blackfoot River's season runs freestone — blown in spring runoff; prime july–september.

The Blackfoot is the river from A River Runs Through It — 130 miles from the Continental Divide near Lincoln down a canyon of pine and limestone to the Clark Fork at Bonner. It is a big, brawling freestone with a genuine recovery story behind it, holding wild rainbows, browns and native westslope cutthroat, and its early-July salmonfly and golden stone hatches produce the kind of big-dry-fly fishing anglers plan a year around.

Where to fish the Blackfoot River

The Johnsrud-to-Bonner stretch is the productive lower canyon and is a float; the upper river around Ovando is smaller and more approachable on foot. The river is wide and swift enough that wading is often impractical — most anglers fish it from a raft or drift boat, especially before flows drop in August.

Guided trips & lodges to book