Montana - Bighorn And More

[jscheetz]

Just got back from a week in Montana. Was a bit chilly at night - but most days hit 50, so as long as you were catching fish it was perfect! Fished the Clarks fork of the Yellowstone, The Stillwater, East Rosebud, West Rosebud lake, Rock Creek, The Bighorn, and The North fork of the Tongue river in WY.

All were awesome! Got snowed on while at the Clarks just outside of Cooke City, but the bows were hitting caddis so it was pretty surreal - river very low, I really love that river cause you can just walk for miles and miles when it is low. If you have never done the Clarks it is pretty neat, you can fish it from Cooke City to Yellowstone also - there are some great canyons there. Rock Creek the same -very low, lots of trout in each hole you would come to.

But the Bighorn was just crazy. Spent two days there - in spite of one day of incredible wind, the fishing was non-stop action. If you haven't been to the Bighorn, it is a tailwater fishery so it can be fished a lot like Taney - scuds, midges etc - the midges were the hottest last week. It is in the middle of nowhere though, just out of the Bighorn mountains and there are TONS of bugs hatching all the time, so you can get in on dry action, you just have to be ready to switch fast. A couple of times there were so many different kinds of bugs swarming around my head and getting in my ears and eyes that I didn't even know what to grab out of the flybox. Lots of black caddis and some baetis during the overcast day were best. I don't know how many fish I caught - well over 30 a day - and they were all beefy browns from 15 to 19 inches. About 80 percent of these fish would jump like Tarpon once hooked so it was a killer workout for the 5 weight - these guys were strong! Funny thing - at Taney everyone talks about the Browns they catch, and there in the restaurant at night I would hear a couple of guys say "caught a rainbow" like that was the fish to catch there. Funny how different places have different "heroes"!

The other place not everyone knows about is the North fork of the Tongue. That is one of my favorite places and this time of year it was perfect. Some years there is a cow problem on this river (like there are on many in the West) - but this year it was good, and the fishing showed it. Water was low - not another soul around - always lots of moose there - and cutthroats stacked up in every little hole! Nymphed for awhile during mid morn, but then the hatch started coming off and it was dry's the rest of the day. Caught many 17 inch cuts from pools so small that I couldn't park my truck in - one pool I caught 6 fish in a row in - just crazy - almost a perfect fishing day for me. So another 30 fish and then some day I would guess - 50 degrees and partly cloudy at 10,000 feet - ahhhhhh -

Anyway, had another blessed trip and thought I would share a couple of pics - this cut was a real stout fish from the Tongue - the brown is one of the smaller ones from the Bighorn, but a nice pic - they had really deep color. The moose I didn't actually catch - but there were 4 of them between me and the river for a bit so I just took pics and watched.

If anyone has any questions about these areas - I go there a lot so know quite a few places and info etc - happy to share....

JS

[catman]

Yes, you are right about the Bighorn being in the middle of nowhere, went through there back in mid Aug. to check it out. Thermopolois is nice..Lots of great fly shops south of town. I also went through Clarks Fork area from Red Lodge, MT. unbeivable road and country. I will go back...