I spend so little time fishing in Western Montana, except on the East Fork of the Bitterroot and upper Rock Creek during the winter, that I have very little to offer. The most and best access, despite a pretty rough road, is on Rock Creek. And it probably does offer the best prospects to a wading angler for catching fishies on dry flies this time of year.

The Bitterroot, the Blackfoot, and the Clark Fork have relatively limited access and are best fished with watercraft to fish from and to cover more water. You can spend a lot of time walking and wading on these rivers with little, if any, reward. They are not for novices out on their own, unless they are just out for exercise.

The Grizzly Hackle, Kingfisher, and Blackfoot River Outfitters in Missoula are all good shops. I don't include the Missoulian Angler simply because I have no experience with them. There are other good shops in the vicinity and down the Bitterroot Valley.

Most of the fishing reports on the fly shop websites strike me as ads for their guide services and the flies they are presently pushing. Most of what they have to say seems to me to be largely irrelevant to the wading angler, the possible exception being Rock Creek because there is limited guiding on that river. If one shop is an exception to that generality, it would be Kingfisher.

John