The weekend storms put a touch of color in the upper river, and that is the only blemish on a Clark Fork that otherwise keeps improving as it drops.

The Clark Fork has kept dropping into genuinely good summer shape, with the water through and west of Missoula the strongest, most overlooked hand in the valley right now.

The Clark Fork has cleaned out fast after last week’s rain and dropped into genuinely good summer shape, with clarity much improved and the fishing running consistent. The water through Missoula and west of town has been the strongest hand in the valley.

The Clark Fork wore the rain the hardest and sits a step behind its neighbors, but it is dropping and the water through and west of town is the strongest hand.

The Clark Fork bumped with the rain and is carrying more water than usual for early July, but it remains one of the region's quiet stars, with stellar water through and west of town. Golden Stones, PMDs, Green Drakes, Yellow Sallies, and heavy evening caddis keep the dry-fly game going from lunch through dark.

The Clark Fork has finally turned the corner and is fishing great, with water dropped into shape across the whole river and fish spreading into classic summer holding water.

Finally turned the corner and fishing great in and around Missoula. Dropping and slightly off-color, clearing by the day.

The Clark Fork has finally turned the corner and is fishing great. The water has dropped into a good spot to fish the entire river and clarity is improving by the day.

The Clark Fork has turned the corner and is in good shape, improving by the day as flows drop and clarity settles in around Missoula.

The Clark Fork has turned the corner from the recent flow bump and is starting to take shape, with the upper end clearing up nicely. There is still plenty of water moving, but the river is becoming more manageable and fish are spreading into typical early-summer lies.

Dropping and slightly off color, mid-day water temp around 56°F. Roughly 4,490 CFS above Missoula and 8,310 below.

Dropping and slightly off color, mid-day water temp around 56°F. Roughly 7,370 CFS above Missoula and 13,900 below.

Two stories on one river: the upper Clark Fork has cleared nicely while the lower stays big and off color. The freshest report says it is fishing incredibly well right now, and June should be good.

All four rivers are dropping out of last week’s rain-driven blowout and the trend is positive everywhere. Rock Creek is the headline: salmonflies are on the water and Grizzly Hackle rates it 5/5.

The Clark Fork is the last river in the area to clean up post-runoff, and it shows: high water and less-than-ideal clarity through Missoula and downstream.

Runoff is back across the region after another warm push. The Bitterroot is the most fishable mainstem; Salmonflies have arrived on lower Rock Creek but high, off-color water is throttling the dry-fly bite everywhere.

Western Montana is on the back side of a big runoff push. All four rivers crested last week and are dropping fast — clarity is improving daily, but flows are still high and off-color.

The whole Missoula-area system is in spring-runoff mode.

Runoff is in full swing across western Montana, with a cold, wet weekend pushing flows higher and snow showers in the forecast through Sunday before things dry out and warm into the 60s by midweek.

Regional headline: warm weather has pushed Western Montana into full runoff. All four rivers are high, off-color, and pushy.