Blackfoot River Weekly Fishing Report

Hit the check the flows button below for the most up to date river flows for the Blackfoot River.

 Check the Flows!

Fishing Report

With higher water flows and muddy conditions on the Blackfoot your a stuck to throwing deep dry dropper rigs or the double nymph of your choice, weather that be a indocator of sorts or tight line nymphing.

Hot Flies

Nymphs

-#10 Pats Rubber Leg, #12 San Juan Worm, #12 Prince Nymph, #12 Blowtorch, #12 TJ Hooker

Dry Fries

-#10 Chubby, #10 Plan B, #12 Purple Haze, #14 Brindlechute, #14 Caddis, #16BWO
Weekly fishing rating:
May 13, 2026

Bug Life to look out for

While the river may be high and mighty there is still an abundance of bug life on the water.

MayFlies- With a variety of adult mayflies starting to arrive in the watershed keep a look out for the tail-end of the March Brown hatch. The Grey Drakes and Blue Winged Olives have been out in number on overcast days.

Stoneflies- The end of the Skwala has arrived. With Warmer temperatures this spring there has been early signs of Golden Stones and Nocturnal Stoneflies. As We move into summer be on the watch for Salmon flies and Yellow Sally Stoneflies.

The Blackfoot River: From Buffalo Trails to Big Trout

  • The "Road to the Buffalo": Long before European settlement, the Blackfoot River corridor was a vital, heavily traveled highway for the Nez Perce, Salish, and Kootenai tribes. They called it Cokalahishkit, which translates to "the river of the road to the buffalo," using the valley to cross the Continental Divide to reach the buffalo hunting grounds of the eastern plains.
  • Lewis’s Return Journey: In July 1806, during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis split from Clark and followed the Blackfoot River eastward. He used the ancient tribal trail to navigate his way back toward the Missouri River, cementing the river's place in early American exploration.
  • The Birth of Missoula & The Timber Boom: Missoula was founded at the convergence of three great rivers: the Clark Fork, the Bitterroot, and the Blackfoot. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Blackfoot Valley became a massive timber engine. Loggers used the fast-flowing Blackfoot to float millions of harvested trees down to the mills in Bonner and Missoula.
  • The Dam and the Damage: In 1908, the Milltown Dam was built at the confluence of the Blackfoot and the Clark Fork rivers just east of Missoula. While it provided power, it blocked fish migration and trapped millions of tons of toxic mining sediment washed down from upstream copper mines, severely damaging the ecosystem for decades.
  • "A River Runs Through It": The Blackfoot was immortalized by Norman Maclean’s 1976 novella, A River Runs Through It (and the subsequent 1992 film). Maclean grew up in Missoula in the early 20th century, and his stories transformed the Blackfoot into a mythical, hallowed water for fly fishermen all over the globe.
  • A Modern Conservation Miracle: Today, the Blackfoot is a testament to resilience. Following a massive, decades-long Superfund cleanup and the historic removal of the Milltown Dam in 2008, the river was allowed to flow free again. Today, the Blackfoot is one of Montana's premier freestone rivers, boasting crystal-clear plunge pools, heavy rapids, and thriving populations of native Westslope cutthroat and protected Bull trout.
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