Stillwater River Montana Fishing Report 12/21/24 The stream is still flowing a little below a normal level with clear water. Very good hatches are taking place. Blue-winged olives, Cream midges, and Winter stoneflies are hatching. Our sculpin streamers are catching some nice ones for our customers. Keep in touch and we will keep you informed.
Perfect Flies are designed and tied to to imitate and behave like the natural foods the trout rely on to survive as much as possible. The more your fly looks like and moves through and on the surface of the water like the real things, the higher your odds of success.
We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Cutthroat Trout
Brook Trout
Size
Medium to large
Location
Central Montana
Nearest Towns
Billings
Nye
Absarokee
Season
3rd Sat. May – Nov 30th
Access:
Plentiful but hiking required in the
uppermost section
Non-Resident License
State of Montana
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Stream Flow Data:
Near Absarokee
Seasons:
Fly fishing the Stillwater River can be good any day of the season.
Spring:
Springtime is a prime time for fly fishing the Stillwater River due to plentiful hatches.
Summer:
The water stays cool during the Summer, especially in the upper section, and the fishing stays good.
Fall:
Early Fall is an excellent time to fish the Stillwater River, maybe the best time.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Options For Selecting Flies:
1. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with the dates you will be fishing this stream and we will send you a list of our fly suggestions. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.
2. Call us 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide which flies you need
3. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with a budget for flies and we will select them to match the budget and get them to you in time for your fly fishing trip.
All orders are shipped free in the
U. S. Orders over $100 are shipped via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing On The Stillwater River In Montana
The Stillwater River originates in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness near the Wyoming state line and Yellowstone National Park boundary. It flows for a total of about 70 miles, first through Custer National Forest between the Absaroka Mountain Range and the Beartooth Mountains. From there it flows through a mixture of prairie and forest country to its confluence with the Yellowstone River. Fly fishing the Stillwater River is fast, pocket water fishing that usually provides a lot of action.
The Stillwater River is probably the most misnamed river in the World. Whitewater River would be a better name for it. It is a mountainous, fast-flowing, freestone stream. This is a beautiful river that is not heavily fished. It has a good population of cutthroat, rainbow, brook and brown trout.
Access to the upper section is great but in a wilderness area that does require hiking into. Horseback trips can also be arranged. Access outside the wilderness area is also good. Many public access areas, roadside pulloffs and bridges provide access.
The upper section of the river contains mostly brook trout and cutthroat trout. Rainbow and Cutthroat are plentiful in the middle section of the Stillwater River. Brown trout as well as rainbows and a few cutthroat are more common in the lower section.
Much of the Stillwater River consist of white water class rapids. Floating any part of the wilderness section isn’t advisable. Fast water rapids are plentiful even when the stream leaves the wilderness area. Below Nye, the river tends to slow down but is still very fast flowing water with lots of rapids. Unless your highly experienced with this type of water, you shouldn’t attempt to float it.
Summertime water levels slow the flow down but presents other dangers in the form of rock outcroppings. It’s more suitable for smaller inflatable rafts or kayaks. The lower section of the Stillwater River is more manageable.
Trout Food and Trout Flies:
The Stillwater has quite a few species of aquatic insects but most of them are clinger nymphs. There are several species of stoneflies including Little Winter stoneflies, Little Yellow Stoneflies, Salmonflies and Golden Stoneflies. These hatches always produce a lot of action but it requires being there at the right time and place. All but the Little Yellow Stonefly hatches are short in duration at any one point along the stream.
There are several different species of mayflies including Blue-winged olives, Pale Morning Duns, Western March Browns, Yellow Quills, Ginger Quills, Callabaetis, or Speckled Wing Quills, Tricos and others. You can always call or email us for information on the status of the hatches.
There are a several species of caddisflies including Green Sedges, Short-horned sedges, Spotted Sedges and October Caddis. The first ones to hatch in the late Spring are Little Black Caddis, or American Grannoms. During the summer and early fall, caddisfly hatches and egg laying activity are often the only thing happening. You need to fish the egg laying part very late in the day, until it is almost dark.
During the warmer months of the year, don’t overlook the terrestrial insects, especially ants and beetles. These are mostly carpenter ants and Japanese Beetles. There are also some grasshopper along some parts of the stream.
Sculpin are very plentiful. So make sure you have some Perfect Fly imitations of them. We have the Brown and White Belly Sculpin and Olive and Black Matuka Sculpin that work well for this stream.
One of the reasons the Stillwater River isn’t a more popular destination is the numerous other trout streams in the same general area of Montana. If that were not the case, it would be a highly popular stream.
Stillwater River Fishing Report:
02/22/2020 We are resuming the fishing reports again. The river is flowing barely above normal levels. There is some ice mainly in slow water near the banks. Midges, little BWOs
and Winter stoneflies are hatching. Our sculpin streamers should work fine. Shoot us an email for a fly list. sales@perfectflystore.com
04/18/20 Stream levels are high, too high to wade safely anywhere. It is getting warmer and new hatches should be starting very soon. For now, it is Skwala stoneflies, midges, little BWOs and March Browns.
05.04/20 The stream levels are flowing at 1590 cfs, or very high. Fish when it drops back down.
05/30/20 Stream levels are very high due to spring runoff conditions. Fish when it drops back down.
06/15/20 The river is still very high and dingy from runoff.
06/25/20 The stream levels are still high,too high to wade or fish successfully from a drift boat. It should start falling out soon.
07/06/20 The stream is flowing at 2580 cfs, which is still very high and stained. It should be ending very soon. Now is the time to get you flies and gear together. We can help you do that.
sales@perfectflystore.com
07/18/20 The stream is down and the river can be fished but it will be better when it gets a little lower. There isn’t much wading water at the current stream level. It should be just fine for drift boats.
08/01/20 The stream is flowing at a normal level and in good shape. We are getting some very good reports from customers. There are lots of insects hatching and terrestrials are also working good.
08/19/20 The stream is flowing a little below normal levels but in good shape otherwise. We continue to get good reports from customers. There are still a lot of hating insects.
09/15/20 The river is in good shape with good levels near normal. There are still some good hatches taking place and our terrestrials are also working good. We continue to get good customer reports.
10/31/20 The stream levels are in good shape and there are midges and BWOs hatching.
Our sculpin and leech patterns are catching some nice trout.
02/24/20 The season ended the last day of November. Send us an email and let us help you plan that next trip. sales@perfectflystore.com
04/16/21 The stream is still very cold but there are hatches of Midges, little BWOs and Skwala stonefies.
04/28/21 The water is getting warmer and March Browns are starting to hatch in addition to BWOs, Midges, and Skwala stoneflies.
05/19/21 The river is in runoff with very high stained water. Wait until it clears and drops. The season doesn’t begin until the 3rd week of this month.
06/11/21 The river is still high from runoff. Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations.
06/20/21 The river is flowing at 2250 cfs which is high but can be fished by drift boat. We did receive a good report from a customer fishing recently. It is falling fast.
06/30/24 The river is still flowing at 2240 cfs and mostly clear. It can be fished. Good hatches are taking place.