Advice on Fishing Montana

[Timbers]

Hoping some of you can steer me in the right direction with somethings. Please feel free to add ideas for us.

My wife and I are planning a two week bucket list trip (for us anyway) to Montana. Ideally head to Twin Falls ID and stay overnight or two nights. Then head into Montana and stay 7-9 days, head to CDA ID 2-3 days, lastly maybe Bend OR. then home. Having a tough time booking a VRBO near Missoula (late to plan I'm finding out), finding some places near/around Hamilton. Someone know of a secret house rental on the river??:D

Current places of interest are West Fork Bitterroot and Rock Creek. May try to get to Little Blackfoot and some areas near Kalispell, don't know for sure, trying to find a home base and decide what else is within driving distance. There seems to be so many great choices to fish. Trying to keep it to 2-3.

Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction if I'm wrong. I'm hoping my river choices are similar in size and type like the McCloud and Pit River? Wanting to wade fish.

Would sometime in July be a good time to go, trying to avoid bad weather and big runoff/not being able to fish these areas?

From Hamilton, is the Skalkaho Hwy. 38 open in July to get over to Rock Creek Road? Is that the best route to take?

Might decide to camp a day or two. Has anyone camped at any of the places on Rock Creek Road? Are they packed this time of year?

Thanks all for any suggestions I really appreciate it.

[PV_Premier]

You don’t need more than a night of sleep in twin falls. It’s not that nice a town. If you can make it to Hailey on day 1, stay there instead and fish nearby. Late July/early August is more reliable for dodging runoff on all streams but many will be fishable early/mid month. There will be weekday construction on US93 Wells to TWF all summer so consider going via Boise or planning for some delays.

[Timbers]

You don’t need more than a night of sleep in twin falls. It’s not that nice a town. If you can make it to Hailey on day 1, stay there instead and fish nearby. Late July/early August is more reliable for dodging runoff on all streams but many will be fishable early/mid month. There will be weekday construction on US93 Wells to TWF all summer so consider going via Boise or planning for some delays.

Don't really know the best route to go, thought that it would be through Twin Falls. Have not been to Idaho either. If there is something to see I'd maybe take an extra day but would rather get to where I'm going quicker ideally.

Thank you for this info I appreciate it.

[PV_Premier]

Don't really know the best route to go, thought that it would be through Twin Falls. Have not been to Idaho either. If there is something to see I'd maybe take an extra day but would rather get to where I'm going quicker ideally.

I am not sure the "best" route either, never driven to that part of Montana, I just know that US93 from Wells to TWF will be a bit of a nightmare on weekdays this summer because of the road work.

TWF is an industrial town on the big part of the Snake. Not so fishy, at least for trout. If you can make it to Sun Valley/Hailey on day 1, you will find some good fishing options on the way to Missoula that is worth more than an overnight visit, if you take the US93 route. If you are bent on getting to Montana, drive as far as you can manage on day 1 and find a place to crash when you run out of patience.

[Timbers]

I am not sure the "best" route either, never driven to that part of Montana, I just know that US93 from Wells to TWF will be a bit of a nightmare on weekdays this summer because of the road work.

TWF is an industrial town on the big part of the Snake. Not so fishy, at least for trout. If you can make it to Sun Valley/Hailey on day 1, you will find some good fishing options on the way to Missoula that is worth more than an overnight visit, if you take the US93 route. If you are bent on getting to Montana, drive as far as you can manage on day 1 and find a place to crash when you run out of patience.

Yes, I understand. Don't like to sit at a standstill, trying to avoid that kind of thing getting away from populated areas where we live.
Thanks again.

[Fly Guy Dave]

I agree that the Hailey area is much nicer than Twin Falls and it is easy to get there in a (long) day of driving. I have never rented any places to stay up there, only camped, so I don't have any info on that. There are plenty of places to camp along the WF of the Bitterroot and along Rock Creek. Some are free, others have some kind of fee, usually not very much. Many of the places are first come, first serve, so you take your chances on getting a camping spot. Weekends are busy, the weekdays, not so much.

I would avoid going over Skalkaho Pass. A lot of the water on that upper part of Rock Creek is fenced off and private and very skinny. The road up to the pass is narrow and winding and it is very slow going. Driving north on 93 through Missoula and then east to Rock Creek on I-90 and fishing the lower sections works better.

Rock Creek is LONG and most of the water in the lower and middle sections are easy to access. There are places to rent along there as well, but again, I don't know anything about them. Camping along Rock Creek is similar to the places on the WF of the B-root. There are many miles of stream, so there are a lot of places to camp. Some campgrounds get more traffic than others. I had an entire campground to myself one night, but there are usually a few others around. I am usually there in July, so the runoff is over and the skeeters aren't too bad.

Both the B-root and Rock Creek are easily waded and are Pit and McCloud in size. I've found that the best fishing on both streams is in the evening, from sunset until it gets dark. Being that far north that is usually around 10 in the evening that time of year. Lots of surface action and nice fish.

[montana mike]

Skalkaho Pass is a beautiful ride with waterfalls and lots of wild game . Good road and can turn left at top to follow Upper Rock Creek, some private but mostly easy access. Watch out for moose and sheep. Lots of camping sites.
Enjoy , Mike

[scall]

When heading from Montana to CDA if you have the opportunity to get to the Thompson River I would recommend it. Was in Missoula 2 years ago during runoff and took a day to do a wade trip there and turned out to be one of my favorite spots. Similar in size to Pit and McCloud.

[JayDubP]

Timbers- Have a great trip. Search for previous posts since this comes up about once a year.

Some random thoughts..... I have driven SF Bay Area to Boise and SF to Flathead Lake many times- but I was much younger then. Idaho forests and rivers start just above Boise or above Hailey/Sun Valley.

You are facing 17- 19hrs of driving each way to/from-- drive as far as you can the first day (or as far as your marriage will allow).
If you have mountain bikes- take them.

Since your focus is SW MT and to visit CDA, consider a loop route & avoid the central ID route thru Hailey/Sun Valley this trip.
-- use Mapquest to search on: "Sonoma to Lolo, MT" and "Coeur d' Alene to Sonoma". You could drive the routes in the direction as fits your schedule.
I'd save any fishing along the way for the return or for another trip- focus on SW MT and N Idaho. (CDA through Bend instead of Boise could be a nice alternative one way). Fishing along the way is good, but N ID & SW MT fishing is great.

Route Sonoma to Lolo, MT: once you pass Reno, it is high desert to ID with not much to see or do.
3 things to consider: 1) avoid commute traffic in Sacramento and between Sparks-Fernley, NV (Tesla Gigafactory workers); 2) drive Winnemucca-Boise through E Oregon in daylight, too many critters on the road at night; and 3) drive above Boise in daylight (windy road with beautiful scenery). I have left SF East Bay after work and spent the night in Winnemucca (great Basque restaurants). Plus I have left at 3-4am and spent the night in Boise area. I drove truck in summer during college and drove Boise- Winn at night many times and splattered many a jackrabbits on that road.

Starting 30mins north of Boise, you will be driving alongside rivers most of the rest of the way. NF Payette River is a kayaker/rafter's dream and has some decent access. 90mins you are in McCall on Payette Lake (favorite getaway of Boiseans), and after McCall you'll be alongside the Little Salmon River, the Salmon at Riggins and then even more rivers.

This route takes you on spectacular US Hwy 12 (Northwest Passage Scenic Byway) from ID to MT. Lots of online articles on Hwy 12 with pictures. Lochsa River, a wild & scenic river, runs alongside Hwy 12 with lots of easy access, pullouts and camping. In my opinion, detour off Hwy 12 to spend 2 days camping on Kelly Creek and NF Clearwater River- both are world class destination FF for cutties. Kelly Creek is one of the first C &R waters in US. Lots of online articles on Kelly Creek. USFS has a rental cabin "Kelly Forks Cabin" but it is usually reserved a year in advance... don't know if they are taking reservations this year. I think this area of ID has better fishing and more diverse fishing than SW MT- worth a 2 week trip by itself. (I left out several blue ribbon rivers).

If you want to see Flathead Lake, Whitefish Lake and Glacier Park- they are all worth a trip- but not enough time to fit in fishing- its a 4 hr drive each way.

On way from MT to CDA:
St Regis River runs alongside I-90 from St Regis, MT to Lookout Pass. Locals' favorite if water is not too low.
There is a bike trail that runs from WA border to St Regis, this portion is called the Olympian Trail . You can easily bike between car access points (I-90 exits) and fish where not many people fish. You can find articles and videos online.

Near Lookout Pass on I-90 is a great non-fishing activity: The Hiawatha Bike Trail- 15 miles of slight downhill riding on abandoned railroad right of way-- with a free shuttle bus to bring you back up. https://www.ridethehiawatha.com/. You could fit it in between fishing am in MT and pm in ID.

Between Wallace, ID & CDA-- the NF of the CDA River is another world-class FF water for Cutties & a locals' favorite. I think it is more beautiful area and better fishing than the St Joe River. Lots of access. This is the NORTH FORK that runs into the main CDA River at Kingston, ID. The 131yr old Prichard Tavern has a rental house. I don't know much about it. Prichard, ID only has a handful of residents. www.prichardtavern.com Several campgrounds on the NF or there are some reasonable motels and B & Bs's in Wallace to Kingston.

CDA- it has become a major tourist resort town. Kind of like Aspen on a lake. If you have never been it is worth seeing, but you can walk the boardwalk, walk around downtown, take a lake cruise and have a nice dinner all in 1 day. If you golf, add a 2nd day.



BOISE: you can easily spend a week fishing around Boise-- worth a trip by itself. Owyhee River, Boise River in town, South Fork of Boise, Middle Fork of Boise are all good. Within an hour you get to all 3 of the forks of the Payette River.. and that is just for trout.

Central Idaho route:
Add this to your next bucket list trip- when Hwy 93 construction will not add 2-3 hrs. You could spend 2 weeks fishing just around Hailey/Sun Valley, Copper Basin and Stanley/Sawtooths. Redfish Lake between Sun Valley & Stanley is favorite lake of Idahoans & the most beautiful lake in Idaho. Redfish Lodge and campgrounds are usually reserved months to a year in advance, as is camping at Stanley Lake.

PM also sent

Jim

[yubaman]

If you cannot find a VRBO in Rock Creek, there is a decent Property Management company filled Rock Creek Trout Bums. They have about 10 different cabins that they rent in Rock Creek. Deb Pelletier is the proprietor. She and her husband Joe know everything about Rock Creek fishing. Also the Elkhorn Ranch has some nice smaller cabins in Rock Creek, that includes private access to Rock Creek. As you have seen, you are a bit late for July reservations, so good luck!

From Rock Creek, you can realistically fish The Blackfoot, Rock Creek, Clarkfork and all of the Upper Forks of Rock Creek ( There are 3 of them) and Flint Creek.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

This has been an information filled thread.

Like someone said, we have ~27 years of threads/posts you can search about this subject.



Over my life time in the fly fishing business we had many "groups" who go annually to ID/MT.

Some were families, couples, 2 anglers or even 6 to 12 people.

In our Spring in California they would come by our shop getting ready for their annual trips.

Length of trips were usually 9 days to 2 weeks for most.

Some of our retired customers RVed all over for months with others they had met.

Some even had a summer home or family cabin in ID/MT they went to for generations.

Many bought their big ticket items from us and either tied their own flies or bought many at shops on the way.

I always recommend buying flies near your destinations because those shops have a better handle on things.

Many fish the Spring and Fall in Nor Cal and go to ID/MT in the Summer.

Some drift larger rivers daily, other prefer wading small free stone dry fly fishing and many like lakes or spring creeks.

_____________________________________

I was so lucky to be invited on an annual trip with Don Rotsma and Rick Jorgensen.

Part of why I was invited was the fact that I just purchased a new Chevy Suburban. LOL

That one trip has to be one my "top 10" trips of my lifetime.

Rick and Don have both fished around the world on saltwater flats, for steelhead and trout.

That year, 1986, Don had gotten a tip from Mike Lawson that some were starting to fish the Missouri river.

Don was fishing a Scott G series 8'8" #2 in 3 pieces most of the time. They are match the hatch guys from the old days.

I bought a new Sage LL 490-2 with an Orvis CFO III reel and a WF4F Peach 444 Cortland fly line.

I could write an entire article about this one trip with two great "Commando" fly fishers.

__________________________________

I think July, August, and September is the time for a trip to Idaho / Montana.


I can get extremely cutting edge information from school teacher / guide David Armocido who retired and

moved from Colusa, CA to Missoula, MT some years ago.


A trout fishing trip to MT/ID in the summer has to be on your 'Bucket List'.

.

[Timbers]

You guys are great! PMs replied to.

Thanks so much for all of your responses, they are extremely helpful in planning things.

Getting excited to get out and fish water that we've not seen before.

As far as research/old threads here, I think I've read 50 or so. This is partly how I decided which places to fish. Grateful for this forum and the amount of information here.

Wish I could take half the year to fish more of the rivers I'll be close to. Difficult to pick only a few.

Cheers and tight lines.

[Timbers]

So I have to report that unfortunately we did not get to take this trip. Shorty after I posted the OP we ran into some financial difficulties so off the table it went. :mad:

However, we are looking at this again but trying to book places at the last minute didn't work so well for the CDA area, but things look great in Montana.

My plan is to drive from Sonoma County to Boise one day. From Boise straight to Missoula for a night, grab supplies then head to Rock Creek. Thanks yubaman for the Trout Bums referral, we lucked out and one of their places was open for the days we wanted. From there we are headed to Sula MT to stay/fish what I believe is the East Fork of the Bitterroot East of Sula on Hwy. 472. From Sula we'll head back to Boise for up to two days.

Couple of things:
Anything I should know about going this time of year?
Should I think about bringing chains? Weather looks good/clear.
If anyone has specific places on Rock Creek or the area in and around Sula/Darby/Hamilton to fish or are must dos/sight see places please feel free to let me know. We may have a couple hours to kill in Missoula too.
For the time in Boise if we stay two nights I'd like to get some fishing in. Suggestion on a fly shop in town? Looks like there's several.

Thanks again for any and all suggestions. I GREATLY appreciate it.

I will post some pics after I recoup from this.

Here's a view I miss. Really wish they'd fix the road.

https://i.postimg.cc/TYgwCgYr/IMG-4546.jpg

[PV_Premier]

It looks like a warm fall so far in SWMT/East Idaho. I have only put on waders for a couple dusk excursions. I’ll be back out 10/1-6 and if the forecast holds it looks like more wet wading during daylight hours at least. Based on the forecast I wouldn’t dream of carrying chains but won’t be as far north as you.

Sonoma to Boise very doable in one day. We drive Sacramento to Driggs in a day, 11 hours doing 8-10 over the limit the whole way. Boise is 250 miles closer. We could get there by 3:30pm leaving at our normal 6am hour from Sac.

[Timbers]

PV,

Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the chains and the drive time.

I'm learning there's a lot of construction North of Boise starting around Smiths Ferry/Cascade and further North. I think I'm going to head towards Stanley from Boise to get to MT. If any thoughts on this please let me know. Thanks

https://itdprojects.org/

[PV_Premier]

I’m not sure about US95. There’s still construction between Wells NV and Twin Falls ID on US93, causing delays on that route. I’ve not been on US93 north of Twin this summer so cannot give any insight about that.

There is also quite a bit of construction activity on I-80 in Nevada. The most impactful is around the Beowawe/Welcome area especially when traveling westbound.

Both routes are a long drive so just pack your patience. I would reiterate what I said before that if you can get yourself to Hailey on the first day you will already then be in the vicinity of good fishing, but the Boise area also has good options.

[yubaman]

Timbers,

I have not checked the flows on Rock Creek, but I would bet that it is very low right now. The lower you fish on the river, the more water you will see, as several streams and creeks feed into Rock Creek. Up a ways, I like to fish the Microburst area, as there is a lot of good wading up there. Down lower, you will see all of the pull-outs along the creek where you access the river at many good spots.

The Rock Creek Mercantile Fly Shop will be a source of information for you. It is about a mile up Rock Creek Road from the Interstate. You can't miss it.

I have not fished the East Fork of the Bitterroot, but from something I just read, they were calling the Main Stem of the Bitterroot, Bitterroot Creek this year because of the flows. The West Fork of the Bitterroot has some really good wade fishing. The water for the WF is pulled from the bottom of Painted Rocks Reservoir, so it should have colder water coming down.

Good luck and have fun.

[Timbers]

yubaman,

Hey thanks for your reply and the information I really appreciate it.

Everything I'm seeing as far as reports Rock Creek sounds like it's in good shape. Either way we're going so it is what it is.

Where we are staying by the Bitterroot, the EF is couple hundred feet from the house.

Thanks again.

[aaron]

Idaho Angler is the best shop in Boise, you can fish in town but it's not super inspiring. They can give advice on things nearby.

[Timbers]

aaron, thanks for the tip on the Fly Shop. I appreciate it.

[yubaman]

tIMBERS,

Two final pieces of information that I held out until the end . . . there is a restaurant right by the Merc named the Ekstrom Stage Stop . . . a pretty good restaurant. Secondly, right at the intersection of Hwy 90 and Rock Creek Road is the Rock Creek Lodge, an epic old Montana Roadhouse/ watering hole. A cocktail runs about $2.75 . . . really! They used to have a big 3 day party right around last weekend called the Testicle Festival, where Rocky Mountain Oysters were served in abundance.

[Timbers]

Wow, you shouldn’t have waited till the end. Those are vital pieces of information. :rolleyes:

Cheers