Glacier National

[Scott V]

Planning a 3 week trip to Glacier National next year and was wonder a couple things.

1.) What is the best time of year to go? Crowds and fishing conditions.

2.) What are the rivers along the way that I should not miss? Blue stream rivers, place that make you say, you have to fish here.

We might even add Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to the trip, possibly.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. We will be traveling via RV if that makes any difference pulling a car.

[Fly Guy Dave]

I went through Glacier a few years back and the scenery is absolutely amazing. Honestly, it was better than the fishing, which was OK, but the beauty of the place alone is worth the trip. Absolutely jaw-dropping vistas. I was there in early July, with a normal year of precipitation, but the streams were in good shape.

On the east side I fished the St. Mary river, just inside the park and caught a few trout, but mostly whitefish. Just over the bridge is the Blackfoot Indian reservation, which has some lakes with HUGE trout in 'em. I only fished one lake, one day, but I got a skunk for my efforts. You'll need to get a reservation license to fish anywhere over in that part, though. Folks also don't recommend that you stay in or around the town of Browning after dark.

There are a few lakes and streams on the west side of Glacier, but the only two I hit were the north and south forks of the Flathead. Both fished OK, but the better part of the SFF is the section before it flows into Hungry Horse. Yeah, it's over 50 miles on a dirt road, but this is the part of the SFF that flows out of The Bob. Great fishing for west slope cutts. There's also a small local lake part of the way down that contains arctic grayling...if you're interested...

When going down (or up) from the south, take the highway on the east side of Flathead Lake (the number of the highway escapes me right now) and check out the Swan River. It was pretty hot when I was there, so the best fishing was early and late in the day, but it was worth it to wait around for it. WS cutts and brookies aplenty. Crowds? None!

Don't overlook the fact that on your way there is The Blackfoot River, Rock Creek isn't too far east from Missoula and of course the Bitterroot is right along the highway south of town. Man, SO much good water up that way. :)

Have a great time and post a report when you get back. I really miss heading back that way this summer. :(

[Scott V]

Great info Dave, thanks. Are the crowds like Yellowstone, or is it less since it really isn't a commercialized go to vacation spot?

And I will be going for graylings, for sure.

[Fly Guy Dave]

That's the beauty of it; the park is huge, beautiful and wildlife abounds, but the crowds are nothing like they are at Yellowstone. There aren't roads going everywhere like YS, the main one being The Going To The Sun Road, which goes up and over the crest of the Rockies and takes you all the way across the park. The rest of the roads go in a bit, then usually end in a trail head. The best way to see the park is to get out and walk, which I did a bit of, but looking back, I wish I'd done more. Lots of places to explore and great views just about everywhere. Don't forget your bear spray, as they've had a few grizzly attacks there. Yeah...parts of it are that wild.

A few streams in the park supposedly have graylings, but I didn't fish any of 'em. The picture of the 18" grayling on my native trout blog was caught in the lake I mentioned (vaguely) in the first reply. If you go, bring a float tube and watch out for moose. I saw several cows with young, munching in the dense fields of huckleberries at one end of the lake. Cows with young can be pretty skittish and unpredictable.

[kokaneejr]

Scott,

Next time we fish(hint hint) remind me to give you some books I got when I went there a couple years ago.

[Woodman]

Last time I was there was around July 4, and even then it wasn't crowded, except at the most touristy spots. In the park, the best fishing we had was Upper two Medicine Lake (on the east side). There's a boat ferry across Lower Two Medicine and then a couple of miles hike to the upper Lake. Caught lots of good sized brookies on dry flies.

Don't expect to fish too much...there is so much more to do. I'll always remember being on a hike and taking 10 minutes to decide whether to walk by a bighorn ram next to the trail that didn't look very happy to see us. My camera in his face from ten feet away didn't sem to make him any happier.

If you get the opportunity to stay at any of the historic lodges in the park, do it.

Libby, MT and the Kootenai River are not far from the west side of Glacier. Good dry fly fishing for rainbows, cutts and browns. Look up Dave blackburn at Kootenai Angler. You're also not far from the Marias River. I floated one day there...only caught one fish but it was a 28", nine pound brown.