Freestone · Mixed · Montana, US

Bitterroot River

Calm stretch of the Bitterroot River with a gravel bar in the foreground and cottonwood trees along the far bank, near Victor, Montana.

The Bitterroot is the river that ends the long Montana winter.

Prime · Cutthroat Trout
Parachute Adams · 16-20
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
River high but settled. Coloured water — fish bigger and deeper, confident takes down the seams.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level1.39 mLast reading 2h ago
  • Water temp9.2°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Parachute Adams
Parachute Adams16-20
Proven pattern for this period
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
1.39 m
Last reading 2h ago
Water temp9.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather6°C
WindSW 13 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Cutthroat Trout
Ideal
9°C est.ideal 9–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Cutthroat Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 7 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Cutthroat Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Montana licence
  • Spring catch-and-release and side-channel closures protect spawning — check FWP before the March skwala session.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 1
Rock Creek
59 km
63
Rainbow trout · Brown trout · Cutthroat trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Calm stretch of the Bitterroot River with a gravel bar in the foreground and cottonwood trees along the far bank, near Victor, Montana.
    bitterroot-river-near-victor-montana
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Bitterroot is the river that ends the long Montana winter. While everywhere else is still frozen shut, the skwalas start crawling and the trout start looking up, and grown men drive a long way to throw a dry fly in March. It's an easygoing valley freestone — browns, rainbows, and westslope cutthroat in long riffles and braided side channels you can wade most of. Come the June runoff it blows out brown and high, and you wait. But that early skwala window is worth the cold fingers.

  • Mixed
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Impaired
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Bitterroot River' (MT76H001_020), 2021 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Not Supporting. Listed impairment causes: Temperature, Hydrologic Alteration. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · MT76H001_020

The full read · show the working · for Cutthroat Trout · confidence 90%
How the 81 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity68 × 12%8.2
Conditions total= 82
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout Third Saturday of May → Last day of February
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts