Blackfoot River

Norman Maclean made the Blackfoot River immortal. In A River Runs Through It, his semi-autobiographical novella (and the Robert Redford film it inspired), Maclean captured the essence of this beautiful river with unforgettable prose. What he described — the deep emerald pools, the boulder-strewn runs, the canyon walls rising from the water edge — remains entirely true today. The Blackfoot is everything the literature promised, and then some.

Flowing roughly 132 miles from its headwaters near the Continental Divide through Lincoln and down to its confluence with the Clark Fork at Bonner east of Missoula, the Blackfoot is big, powerful, and alive. The river carves through towering limestone canyon walls, ponderosa pine forests, and cottonwood groves. It holds wild cutthroat, rainbow, brown, and the magnificent bull trout — a species of concern that reminds anglers of the river raw ecological significance.

The Blackfoot gained fame but then nearly lost its fishery to a combination of mining impacts, irrigation withdrawals, and overgrazing. Beginning in the 1990s, one of the most successful watershed restoration efforts in the American West brought the river back. Today, the Blackfoot Coalition and state and federal agencies continue active restoration work, and the results are extraordinary: a thriving wild fishery in a spectacular landscape.

The river breaks into several distinct sections. The upper Blackfoot above Lincoln is remote, solitary, and predominantly a cutthroat fishery — best wade-fished in mid-to-late summer with attractor dries and hoppers. Near Ovando, the North Fork of the Blackfoot joins the mainstem before the river enters the famous Blackfoot Canyon — a box canyon with nearly vertical walls and the most spectacular floating water in the Missoula region. The canyon is predominantly float-only due to geography, and its salmonfly hatches are legendary. Below the canyon, the Blackfoot Recreation Corridor offers outstanding access with campgrounds and access sites along a remote road far off the highway.

Hatches on the Blackfoot define the fishing seasons. Spring Skwala stoneflies get the season going, followed by one of Montana most celebrated events: the Salmonfly hatch in June. Massive naturals up to 3 inches long blanket the canyon water, and the brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout become incautious and gluttonous. Golden Stones overlap the tail end of the salmonfly hatch. Summer brings Green Drakes, caddis, PMDs, and eventually hoppers in August and September. Fall Blue-winged Olive hatches on overcast autumn days round out the season beautifully.

Streamer fishing is also exceptional on the Blackfoot. The big, deep pools and fast canyon runs concentrate large trout that ambush prey aggressively. Articulated streamers fished on sink-tip lines from a drift boat produce remarkable action, with rainbows and browns exceeding 20 inches and the possibility of a bull trout encounter at any moment.

Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop and the Missoulian Angler in Missoula are the primary outfitters for Blackfoot fishing. Both offer guided trips into the canyon and throughout the river system. Missoula Montana Airport is the gateway — the river is 15 minutes from downtown Missoula. Come for the history, stay for the fish.