Dearborn River Fly Fishing Trips

Fly Fishing the Dearborn River

The fly fishing on the Dearborn River is the icing on the cake for one of Montana’s most scenic float trips. Rainbow, cutthroat, and brown trout make up most of the catch on this smaller freestone river, and anglers can expect consistently good fly fishing with large attractor dry flies and dropper nymphs. Stoneflies are abundant on the Dearborn River and solid hatches of Salmonflies and Goldenstones keep these fish looking up throughout the float season.

The fly fishing on the Dearborn is a great contrast to the technical fly fishing found on the nearby Missouri River. Chernobyl-style dry flies are generally always on the menu, which makes for fun fly fishing for anglers of every skill level. Anglers willing to commit to streamer fishing are often rewarded with larger-trophy sized brown trout that lurk deep within the canyon, but committing to 20-miles of hardcore streamer fishing is always easier said than done.

Our Montana fly fishing guides use specialized rafts with fishing frames on all of our Dearborn River fly fishing trips, which allow us to navigate the many rapids and boulder fields that await. The water type varies significantly, with opportunities to fish lots of different structure ranging from winding riffles, to calm canyon runs, to large back eddy foam holes, and even a few caves cut out by the swift current. The length of the float demands that the boat moves one direction: downstream. There are few second chances and little time for wade fishing. Opportunities for shorter floats and wade fishing do exist on the upper reaches of the river, and are possible when conditions are right.