Fly Fishing
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JOIN US FOR SOME OF THE BEST FISHING IN MONTANA
FISH THE UPPER ANDLOWER RUBY RIVER – MADISON –JEFFERSON – BIG HOLE AND BEAVERHEAD RIVERS
At Upper Canyon Outfitters, we have a variety of fly fishing activities. Our fly fishing guests have the exclusive use of over two miles of the Ruby River and a private spring fed pond on the ranch. Full time fly fishing guides are available at the ranch for instruction, float trips, walk/wade trips and information on water conditions.
UCO MONTANA FLY FISHING REPORT: Had a good summer of fly fishing we had plenty of water this year due to a good snowpack and a wet spring. Flows are still high with lots of cool water in the rivers. The temperatures has been perfect for fall fishing. As the season came to the end we had a number of clients that came close to catching the UCO Grand Slam. Marilyn Sheppard aka the "Grayling Queen" came very close to completing the challenge. On the first day of fishing Marilyn caught a Brown, a Rainbow, a Westslope Cutthroat, Cutbow and a Whitefish. She only had the Artic Graeyling and Brook Trout to complete her Grand Slam for the week. Well the "Grayling Queen worked hard the next four days with her favorite fly the Royal Wulff and our guide Lance to complete her goal. She did catch a number of Graeyling, but not the Brook. As this was all going on her husband Rex was very patient just wishing for another trip to the Ennis Pharmacy for his favorite ice cream. It was a fun way to wrap up the summer and to top it off Larry Sledge caught a very nice 21 inch Brown. Another great year on the Ruby River.
MORE INFORMATION ON OUR TRIPS: The Ruby River is known for its jumping brown trout. For some reason, the Ruby’s browns tend to act more like rainbows when hooked. The thing that makes our fishing on the Ruby so good is the lack of fishing pressure. The fishing on the Ruby is all walk/wade and the wading is very easy due to the gravel bottom and rather low gradient. We have drift boats at the ranch and you will have the opportunity to float the Madison, Beaverhead, Big Hole, or Jefferson Rivers. If you enjoy technical small streams, there are plenty of opportunities on the Ruby’s headwaters and other small streams in the National Forest. We determine where to fish day to day by where the fish are hitting and by what type of fishing you would like to do.
You can expect to catch primarily brown trout on the lower stretches of the water. At the ranch itself we see a mixture of browns and rainbows. Above the ranch we catch mostly rainbows and grayling with the occasional brook trout. As we move up the smaller tributaries, you will find the native cutthroats where Merewether Lewis first described them 200 years ago. You may also fish some higher elevation alpine lakes from a float tube. The larger rivers that we float on provide us with the chance to fish for both browns and rainbows.
Please go here for Fishing Rates information
It’s hard to deciding where to fish next.
Outfitter Donna McDonald #2454 Ruby,Madison and Jefferson River's
Outfittr Russ Kipp #277 Big Hole & Beaverhead
Outfitter Bob Butler #199 Fly Fish Beaverhead National Forest Ruby River
Don't forget to check out links to our guides and flyfishing tips!