Blackfoot River Fishing Report, July 7, 2026

2026-07-07 (July 7, 2026)

Regional summary

The holiday-weekend rain arrived as one storm, but four rivers are answering it in four different tempers: some clearing fast, some carrying the push longer, each true to its own character. All four took the same bump and are now, days out, on the same general trajectory, dropping and clearing at their own pace. The extra water is a gift for the date. It keeps trout comfortable, resettles them through classic summer holding water, and buys the region a few days before the real heat lands. That heat is close. An unsettled Monday gives way to highs in the upper 80s midweek and the mid-90s by Friday, and the best fishing window shortens with every one of those degrees: 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. now per Lightweight Fly Shop in Stevensville, sunrise to noon by Friday. The bug board reads like peak summer: Golden Stones anchor every river, PMDs, Green Drakes, Yellow Sallies, and caddis fill the rest of the menu, and the first ants and nocturnal stones are starting to matter. Salmonflies have finished. No hoot-owl restrictions were in effect as the shops filed their reports, but a mid-90s Friday is reason enough to check Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks before any trip this week.

At a glance: Dropping and clearing after the rain, upper river cleaning first | off color to variable by section | 59°F midday | ~2,390 CFS near Bonner | Grizzly Hackle rating: 5/5 (6/26) | Best window (Lightweight Fly Shop): 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Float hazard: FWP floater advisory. Unload and walk boats through the strainer-tree stretch roughly one mile below Harry Morgan campground (near 46.98791, -113.11272), where accidents and hung-up boats have piled up in recent weeks. A separate obstruction on the North Fork below Harry Morgan has also wrecked boats; walk around it or put in at River Junction instead. Hands on the oars, eyes downstream.

The Blackfoot is the quick recoverer of the four, true to a river that clears from the top down: the water near Ovando is clean already, and the color is still working its way out of the lower miles behind it. Flow remains generous enough to keep fish comfortable, and the fishing never really paused through the weather. Golden Stones show from the middle river down, layered over heavy mayfly activity, and the trout have settled into the soft water: inside seams, bankside eddies, willow lines, buckets, and the slower shelves below the faster current. Read for cushion and feed lanes rather than pounding the heavy middle.

Best techniques

• Cover water with a dry-dropper: a #8-10 Chubby Chernobyl in gold, purple, tan, or royal (a Golden Stone dry or Water Walker does the same job) trailing a #14-16 split-case PMD, Blowtorch, or Frenchie about three feet down. Stonefly nymphs, caddis pupa, and small jigs all earn their keep on the point.
• When clouds slide in, watch the foam lines and shallow riffles for pods of PMDs and switch to a single dry, a Brindlechute or Para-Wulff. Late morning through evening is the riser window, and it improves as the light softens.
• If the river holds a little color, or the fish snub the foam, work a small flashy streamer (Sparkle Minnow, Swim Coach, Thin Mint, JJ Special) through the plunge pools, boulder pockets, and riffle drops.

Hatches

Golden Stones mid-river and down, heavy PMDs on foam lines and slow water, Green Drakes whenever clouds arrive, Yellow Sallies through midday, and caddis thickening toward evening.

The Fly Box

Nymphs: Pat's Rubber Legs, TJ Hooker, Double Bead Stones, Zirdles, Frenchies, Split Case PMDs, Blowtorch, Green Drake Nymphs, Perdigons, Pheasant Tails

Dries: Golden Stones, Chubby Chernobyls, Water Walkers, Green Drakes, Elk Hair Caddis, X-Caddis, Purple Haze, Parachute Adams, Brindlechute, Para-Wulff

Streamers: Sparkle Minnows, Swim Coach, Mini Dungeons, Peanut Envy, Sculpzilla, Thin Mint, Woolly Buggers, JJ Special

Outlook. A shower or thunderstorm chance near Bonner today, then warming Tuesday and Wednesday into the upper 80s, mostly sunny Thursday, and very warm Friday. Start earlier each day as the week heats up, and if hard rain lands up high, watch for mud coming down Monture. The shop counters in town are watching the same gauges as anyone else; a five-minute stop on the drive out will tell you which stretch cleaned up overnight.

Sources and Thanks

Shop	Report date	Coverage
Kingfisher Fly Shop	July 6, 2026	All four rivers (freshest)
Grizzly Hackle	June 26, 2026	Blackfoot
Lightweight Fly Shop	July 5, 2026	All four rivers, consolidated weekly
Blackfoot River Outfitters	July 3, 2026	All four rivers
The Missoulian Angler	June 23, 2026	All four rivers, background