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
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