Montana Trip Recap

This past Tuesday afternoon, Wayne "Trout Jedi" Jordan and I embarked on two days and nights of camping and fly fishing in the Missoula area of Montana. We planned to fish for sure on a few rivers and would "wing it" according to water flows, fishing pressure, etc if our destined waters were not fishing well.

We hit a few big name waters, some relatively unknown creeks, and a few quiet but excellent rivers. 

I had a few goals before the trip...

1. Catch my first Bull trout. A must.

2. Catch a big Brown.

3. Drink good beer.

4. Catch all the available gamefish/trout species on the waters that we fish... nearly improbable but a good ultimate goal.

5. Work on my dry fly game... ie. Reach cast effectively, stalk fish, and make my first cast count.

In the end, I accomplished four out of five goals. Only number two eluded me, but I hooked a MASSIVE Bull trout on the ******************* River that took me to my backing before coming unhooked. That one still grinds my gears. Oh well...

PMDs, Caddis, and Drakes up top seemed to be the main meal tickets, and my self tied Z-wing Caddis Pupae was a winner nymphing. Wayne of course caught fish in all manners, and he even enticed a fish to a purple/glitter Chubby Chernobyl dry fly... and it wasn't just any fish, it was an 18" Westslope Cutthroat. Not your average Cutty!

Enough text for this post though. How about some pictures?! Wayne took the shots of my fish and I threw a couple of Wayne's victory photos in for good measure as well.

Rock Creek, Montana.

Rock Creek Brook Trout. Small guy, dry fly. Only Brookie of the trip.

Wayne's Big Cutthroat.

Hello Cutty. How was that Chernobyl pattern?

Biggest Cutthroat to date for me. Just shy of 19". Great fish.

Close-up.

My first ever Bull trout. Small but native and gorgeous.

Dry fly stalking Cutthroat. Always fun.

Feisty Montana Cut-bow.

Riverside refreshments. Critical to a good trip.

Anniversary in Montana

This past Tuesday was a very special day for myself and my wife Ashley. Not only was it the date of my last class/test of my undergraduate career(!) but it was also our second wedding anniversary. What would be more romantic than a quick round trip to Missoula for a day of good food, sightseeing, and a bit of casting? I'm sure Ashley could find a few better options, but she gamely decided it would be a fun way to spend our special day.

The morning started off with a final exam at 8 AM in Cheney. After the test, I rushed home, loaded up the wife and spaniel and made our way out of town.

All the driver could think about was fishing... the passenger, not so much.

We made good time across the panhandle, my mind racing as to what fly patterns would trick fish in the short hour I had to fish on the way to Missoula. Rain fell intermittently through the pass, and the rivers we passed were absolutely raging. The creek that I had in mind (a tributary to the Clark Fork) would likely be running high, but I figured fish would love to hit a meaty Salmonfly pattern up top... Only a little ways further and we came upon this inconvenience...

Jack-knifed Semi on 2 lane interstate = Less time on the water.

Aside from the jack-knifed semi truck, what seemed like miles of endless construction and 45 MPH speed zones (very un-Montana...) made the trip towards Missoula stretch on. This all meant less time on the water for me. Ashley does not fish (yet) and I bribed here with the promise of a fine dining meal in Missoula after we fished and checked out the fly shops and bars in town. Being our anniversary, and my desire to keep the anniversaries coming for the long term, I would not break that deal!

We finally hit the creek, and raging it was. From what I'd heard from friends who fish this little known body of water, the water was running at double the typical flows. Rainbows, Cutthroat, Whitefish, and a few Bull Trout inhabit the stream and I was anxious to get fishing. So anxious that I pulled into the first spot at the first access point on the creek. 

She's moving...

I believe that this is a Green Drake nymph.

Golden Chubby Chernobyl

It only took 10 minutes of throwing my dry dropper rig (Salmonfly pattern w/ red CJ) to get a strike up top. A decent Cutthroat came and took a swipe at my fly and in my trigger happy excitement I missed the fish. This scenario played out another 5 times, though I did manage to hook up with 3 fish, all of which came unbuttoned. A Golden Stone Chubby Chernobyl attracted the most attention with one brute (at least 16") Cutthroat taking two stabs at my pattern only to get away without meeting my net. Despite my frustrations, my lovely wife (who has a Fine Arts degree), managed to take some great photos of the excursion before Missoula (and that promised dinner) beckoned. 

A spot that yielded countless strikes, and no hook ups. 

Mirrored water + Chubby Chernobyl... success

Beautiful water, with the fuel saving fishing machine (CR-V) across the stream. 

Beautiful water.

Despite getting blanked, I was beyond ecstatic to spend time on the water with my wife. She got to see, firsthand, what I love to do. I couldn't complain about having 8 strikes up top on dry flies in under an hour either... not too shabby at all. 

Oh, and the rest of the trip. It was fantastic. Wonderful meal at Scotty's Table in downtown Missoula. Lots of Big Sky Scape Goat Pale Ale, fantastic thunder and lightning storms to experience throughout the day, and my best friend along with me. Happy Anniversary indeed.