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THE ATLAS · MT · FREESTONE

Blackfoot River

The best month to fish the Blackfoot River is September. The month to avoid is May. Right now, in August, it is worth going.

  1. January: 59 out of 100
  2. February: 66 out of 100
  3. March: 71 out of 100
  4. April: 46 out of 100
  5. May: 46 out of 100
  6. June: 56 out of 100
  7. July: 71 out of 100
  8. August: 71 out of 100
  9. September: 97 out of 100
  10. October: 80 out of 100
  11. November: 69 out of 100
  12. December: 62 out of 100
AUGUST: GO, WITH CAVEATS71/100

Water averages 63°F this month — fishable, but the margin is thinning. Fish early, land them fast, and stop when the afternoon heats up.

WHERE IT IS
LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 12340000 · COLOURED BY AUGUST

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTHTYPICAL FLOWRANGE (P20–P80)WATERAIR HIGHRAINSCORE
January538 cfs452–64832.8°F59
February568 cfs426–61133.0°F66
March825 cfs630–1,05938.6°F71
April2,377 cfs1,457–3,27943.9°F46
May5,353 cfs3,054–6,88049.2°F46
June4,142 cfs2,545–5,17057.3°F56
July1,208 cfs861–1,91564.5°F71
AugustNOW677 cfs511–82362.8°F71
September573 cfs462–64955.3°F97
October576 cfs497–62345.7°F80
November595 cfs518–76836.6°F69
December584 cfs465–64733.2°F62
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 12340000 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 5761,208 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

IF THIS MONTH IS WRONG

The Blackfoot River is at its best in September — water around 55°F, flows near 573 cfs.

← RIVERS GOING WELL IN AUGUST

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.