Fly fishing on Montana’s spring creeks ranks high among fly fishing guide Emily Strawser’s favorite types of water to fish. Meet Emily and learn about our four local spring creeks .
EMILY STRAWSER (Guide #37355)
Emily’s interest in fly fishing started with a guide trip in Rocky Mountain National Park with her mother. Fly fishing quickly grew from a curiosity to a passion, and continues to intrigue her daily. She attributes some of her greatest memories and adventures to the sport. Her experience is derived primarily from Colorado’s freestone rivers, but her passion leads her to seek other regions and types of water. Among these, most recently, are fishing Montana’s spring creeks. Emily relishes in sharing her enthusiasm for fly fishing with others and exchanging stories.
Fishing Montana’s Spring Creeks
Our local spring creeks are available to fish year round and include:
Paradise Valley Spring Creeks
There are several factors that make spring creeks unique. Spring creeks are fed by under ground aquifers. The water is filtered through limestone as it’s pushed to the surface. The limestone provides the water with a steady alkaline ph of around 8, which offers a buffer to changes in water quality. The water is also very clear with a constant temperature because it is fed by ground water. The steady supply of water from the aquifer makes for a constant flow that is not influenced by snow melt. Spring creeks also usually have a gentle flow that discourages scouring. All of these factors add up to a system that supports healthy vegetation with many aquatic insects, which equate to superb trout habitat.
Nelson’s Spring Creek
Fish our privately owned, local Nelson’s Spring Creek is limited to 6 anglers per day and offers 3/4 of a mile of fishable water. Hiding in the numerous riffles, runs, and pools are rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, and mountain white fish. The stream offers anglers the unique challenging opportunity site fish to selective cruising trout or enjoy the advantages of fishing a riffle.
Armstrong’s Spring Creek
Armstrongs Spring Creek is limited to 12 anglers per day and offers 1.5 miles of fishable water. The creek consists of numerous riffles followed by beautiful runs and tail outs. Swimming the stream are rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, and mountain whitefish. Due to the refraction of light in riffles, the fish are more challenging to see, but the keen eye can pick them out.
DePuy’s Spring Creek
Depuys Spring Creek is limited to 16 anglers and offers 3 miles of fishable water. The creek offers many riffles, runs, pools, and a flowing pond. Fish species available are rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, and mountain whitefish. The stream has many sight fishing opportunities, plenty of riffles, and the unique ability to fish a flowing spring fed pond inhabited by wild trout.
You can read more about Spring Creek fishing techniques here.
Fishing Montana’s Spring Creeks with our guides
Our Montana Fly Fishing Guides offer some of the best fly fishing in the state. All of our guides enjoy teaching anglers from beginners to seasoned experts. If you’re a novice, our guides are more than willing to teach the fundamentals of fly fishing so you would be able to start enjoying a life-long hobby. For the elite out there, the guides are happy to show you around the waters and hopefully teach you a few new skills along the way.