Bitterroot River Facts:
Total area of drainage 2,814 square miles ending in the Clark Fork right in Missoula.
Total river miles – A full 80 miles of the main stem and another 20 miles on the West Fork
Travel distances from Missoula – range from 10 minutes to 3 hours
Type of fishing available – shore fishing, floatfish, wading, float/wade combos, overnights, and scenic
Bank-side accommodations – Bitterroot River Vacation House
Typical catch – On the upper reaches expect primarily cutties 10-16", with fewer rainbows 12-18" and browns 16-20+. We expect to see around 25 opportunities above Hamilton and 15-20 per rod/per day further downstream
Primary style of fishing - The Bitterroot is renowned for its dry fly fishing as early as the second week in March when several stones and mayflies hatch. Early season action with streamers and nymphs isn't bad either. Trico far and fine fishing in the late summer serves up some of our areas most challenging big fish on light tippet action. However, the golden stone hatch in early July initiates use of large attractor dries with bead head droppers that is standard fare through out the summer and fall.
 "Top Five" patterns
Beadhead phez tails #16
Yellow Bar-fly w/white legs #8
Trico spinner #20
Tan parachute hopper #8
Black Knat 
Yellow Humpy 
Skwala stone adult - olive bullet head #8

The panoramic Selway-Bitterroot Mountains towering above this river make for an unforgettable setting.  Several solid water flow years in a row have made the Bitterroot an even better fishery than it was in the early '90's.  This river's largest fish often rise to dry flies even in non-hatch conditions.  Many people claim "If you catch a fish on the Bitterroot - you could have caught it with a dry fly!" This probably isn't far from the truth.  Fishing dries here is the most successful 90% of the time (excepting for the common additional bead head dropper).  Renowned hatches of stone and may flies are in full force by March, providing the state's best early season surface action.