SPRING IS IN THE AIR
This year, March has come in like a lamb. We have had lots of sunshine and temperatures hitting 50 degrees on many days. It feels like spring in the Flathead. Us locals lovingly refer to this as the “first fake spring.” We do have quite a bit of rain and snow in the forecast. So the old wives tale of March going out like a lion might just come true. We have been taking advantage of this great weather by getting out on the river as much as possible. The Flathead River absolutely loves spring.
FLATHEAD RIVER SPRING FISHING
The Flathead River runs through the Flathead Valley, passing through Columbia Falls and Kalispell. It is a gorgeous float with the Swan Mountain Range as your backdrop. For about the next month or two, the Flathead River will produce some of its best fishing of the year. This sweet spot after the short, cold winter days and full blown spring runoff is the Flathead’s time to shine.
The Flathead River is part of a much larger system. Three separate forks of the river each come from high in the mountains. They eventually merge into one, creating the main stem of the Flathead. This main stem continues winding its way south until it reaches Flathead Lake just outside of Bigfork, Montana. Flathead Lake is about twenty-eight miles long from north to south. The biggest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi River. Just outside of Polson, Montana, the river emerges again on its way to meet the Clark Fork River near Paradise. In a long, meandering journey west, and after joining several other rivers along the way, it will eventually hit the Pacific Ocean in Oregon.
LARGE MIGRATORY TROUT
There are some benefits of having a huge lake connected to the river you are fishing. The fish are moving throughout the system at different times of the year. During the summer, these large migratory fish will travel upriver to the small, high mountain tributaries looking for the coldest water they can find. In the winter, they will go downriver towards the lake. In the last 20 – 25 miles of river, the current slows and becomes a network of braids and sloughs. These and also the lake have minimal current and more food.
After surviving the winter in the deep slow water of Flathead Lake, these fish start to head back up towards the river. The westslope cutthroat trout, one of our predominant species, is a spring spawning fish. They seek out the shallow gravel runs with riffles of fast water to bury their eggs. These little nests are called redds. Then throughout the season, these large fish disperse all over the system.
RUNOFF SEASON
For the last four or five months, snow has been building in the backcountry. Each mountain range can hold a serious amount of snowpack. As we edge closer to early summer, the temperature will rise enough that the snow starts to burn off. This will eventually be the water that is flowing in our rivers. Starting anywhere from late April to sometime in May, things will get wild on the Flathead River. Once the snow breaks loose and runoff is underway, you do not want to be anywhere near the river. It will hit peak flows and turn into a chocolatey milk color between May and June. Huge trees with roots and all sorts of other debris will be floating down and piling up in log jams from previous years’ runoff.
The snow will continue to melt and keep the small tributaries flowing through the summer. We have somewhat of an idea how much water we will see in the summer based on the amount of snow. You can track this data on the Montana.gov website under the snow water equivalent page. The map below is showing the end of January, 2025, and it isn’t looking great. However, we got the most snow of the whole winter during February so this doesn’t give us a very accurate representation quite yet. This is a valuable resource to keep you up to date. Another site we use frequently is the United States Geological Survey water data. Here you can track in real time the flows and temperatures of most of our Montana rivers. You can find the data for the rivers we float and fish most often here.
Snow and water are a very important part of what we do up here. Mother nature always has a way of keeping us on our toes. Remember to enjoy all of the snow because it will quite literally be the home for the fish the next season. Our fish love the cold, clean water of northwest Montana!
SEE YOU ON THE WATER!
If you are in the area and want to try and go after some of the mega migratory Flathead River fish, give us a call. We would love to get you out on the water! Spring is a great way to beat cabin fever and the crowds. Get out there and get BENT!
