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SteelieD
07-07-2006, 12:51 PM
I just returned from six days in Montana with the family. What a blast! We stayed with some friends at their place in Alberton (25 miles west of Missoula) right on the Clark Fork River. I fished a bunch (but still not as much as I would've liked!!) and didn't do too bad. This is my first real trip carrying a camera (one more thing to fumble with!) so hopefully my photos do this report justice...

As I said, the Clark Fork was right out the back door. This lower section of the river is best accessed by drift boat, and still probably running a bit high but I still found a few spots close by that I could get at it. This rapid produced several nice rainbows...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFathouse13.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFathouse1.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFathouse2.jpg

Just up the road about a mile, Petty Creek feeds into the CF and we spent some time there as the wading was easy and the water was real cold. Some nice fish were hanging out there. Here's a couple of cutthroat...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFatPettyCreek4.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFatPettyCreek9.jpg

That second one ran like a son of a gun! :D

Because the wading was easy, I spent some time trying to get some others into some fish. This is my 7 year old son who spent 20 minutes complaining about his ankles being cold, but soon forgot about the cold...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFatPettyCreek1.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFatPettyCreek3.jpg

He didn't want to touch it! :lol:

Next came my friend Tony who spend about 4 hours casting his spinning gear at the river to no avail. I convinced him that a fly rod wasn't all that complicated (and besides, I was actually catching fish!) so he finally agreed to give it a shot. I rigged him up with a rod that he had at the place and he spent another couple hours with nothing. I thought he was about ready to scream! :x I fed him a beer, worked on his technique a bit and finally...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/CFatPettyCreek7.jpg

A nice 14" brownie!!! :D Not a bad first fish on a fly rod!!!

The next guy is great... A local dude, Roger, who, with his buddy were casting spinning gear, again with no results. He was watching me pull a few fish out and after a bit comes over and says he is having a heck of time but noticed I was using a fly rod and doing OK. He said he had one with him but had no idea what to do with it. I told him to go get it and I'd help. He brought back this old beat up looking fiberglass rod that had a tangle of leader mess at the end of the fly line. I cut it all off and started over with a new tapered leader, indicator and and fly (prince). He was so happy. Well what made my day was about a half an hour later he caught this...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/Roger.jpg

What a riot! :D His buddy was still casting his spinning gear, but I noticed he had a fly rod too, so I got him all rigged up too. I didn't see him catch anything, though I'm sure he will. The best part it we went back there the next day and they were at it again... no spinning gear! I drove by the following day on my way to another spot and there they were again! Two new fly fishing converts!

Next up, at the suggestion of the F&G Warden, I went to a place called Nine Mile Creek. Wow, what a beautiful spot! Pulled out several small browns...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/NineMileCreek7.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/NineMileCreek9.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/NineMileCreek11.jpg

Small stream fishing at it's finest!!! My favorite. :D

On the 4th of July I took a solo trip up to Rock Creek about 20 miles west of Missoula. Again, incredible scenery and pretty good fishing too! If I only had one place to fish the rest of my life, this might very well be it! Good numbers of fish and great looking riffles and pools around every turn. I fished about a half mile mile strech for a few hours and managed at least a dozen fish. Mostly smaller, but good little fighters. They loved to get airborn!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek5.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek9.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek10.jpg

These are fairly typical of the 'bows I cought...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek2.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek6.jpg

Also managed several more small browns... beautiful fish!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/SteelieD/RockCreek3.jpg

That was pretty much it for the fishing. The next day we took about a 40 mile ATV ride back into the mountains with a couple of friends who hunt for elk there. What awesome country. We saw a bunch of wildlife including a bear! :shock:. I was promised, that if I make it back next next year, they would take me to a lake back in the hills that was full of huge browns. Looks like I'll be back! :D

mark
07-07-2006, 01:09 PM
What an excellent report. Good on ya for helping out the wayward spinning rod folks and getting them into their first of manhy positive fly fishing experiences.

Montana is in the cards for me next summer for sure. Hopefully I will have a great report to put together as you did.


Thanks for the respite from work.

-Mark

Adam Grace
07-07-2006, 01:41 PM
SteelieD, Awesome report! I really enjoyed all of those nice pictures. Pictures really give the reader a feel for the experience and environment.

I would love to go to Montana myself...especially if I would be catching healthy fish like you were catching, very nice sized fish!

Good job on acting as an official fly fishing ambassador. Those ex-spin fishing guys will mostly likely never go back. Experiences like that are what keep this wonderful sport of fly fishing going. Great job!

I'm glad that you had a fun trip.

Darian
07-07-2006, 01:46 PM
Wow!!! What a place. Since it has been my intent to visit/fish up there for many years, I think I might make it this fall. Thanks for the reprt and pic's. :D :D :D :D

David Lee
07-07-2006, 03:54 PM
Beautiful report , SteelieD !!!

David :D

MSP
07-07-2006, 06:43 PM
Montana, you gotta love it! \:D/ Great report and pics. And I thought all you could catch were Steelhead! :mrgreen:

PaulC
07-07-2006, 07:04 PM
Awesome report. Need to make it out there one of these days.
Although I don't know if I should congratulate you or shame you for converting those poor souls. lol.
Before they know it they will have a room full of tying materials, chasing new species and acquiring new rods to fit new tactics.
The super duper was so super before you knew better. lol.
-Paul

GoGriz
07-07-2006, 07:30 PM
Great pictures. I went to college in Missoula. I spent a lot of time on the Clark Fork, Bitteroot and Rock Creek. That float around Alberton Gorge can be great streamer fishing for big browns if you catch it right. Rock Creek has a killer stonefly hatch. It's even a fun river to fish in the dead of winter with snow blowing in your face. I never heard of Petty Creek. That's the great thing about Montana, so much fishing, so little time to fish it all(especially when you're trying to go to school). Nine Mile is beautiful. My college girlfriend's dad lived up there. Great area. If you ever go back up you'll have to try the other side of Missoula where the Bitteroot is. Lots of great streams feed into it. Good job on the pics again, makes me miss that place.

Hairstacker
07-07-2006, 07:44 PM
Fantastic report and pictures! Beautiful country with very pretty fish, you obviously had a blast, good for you. Makes everyone want to go on a road trip. :nod:

SteelieD
07-10-2006, 05:09 PM
Yeah guys, if you haven’t been there, you should try to go. It is really unbelievable. So many places to fish, it's crazy!

GoGriz - There is no way I would've made it through college there! I definitely would've become a trout bum! :D

MSP - If I could catch steelhead in those numbers... ohhh man! :shock:

As a follow up, I emailed Roger his picture and he replied...
"Derek,
Thanks for emailing me. Recieved it and it turned out great.
Tried other things, no success yet. I think I'm hooked, I'll keep trying. My son keeps hooking into them and they keep breaking off. Will try again in the morning. Thanks again for sending the picture.
Roger"

Like you said Paul, the poor guy doesn't know what hit him! :D