Regional view of Southwest Montana’s Fishing Reports
THE MONTANA SAMPLER – THREE DAYS THREE RIVERS
We fished the Beaverhead, Madison, and Big Hole rivers in three successive days July 7, 8, and 9. This little tour is a great sampling of Montana’s classic trout streams. We would have gone for five rivers and included the Jefferson and Ruby but those rivers were running high, wide, and dingy so we will postpone that leg of the trip. Here is a summary of our days on these spectacular waters.
The “Beav” July 7, 2010
The Beaverhead has been fishing bonanza since the season opened in May, particularly from the dam to high bridge where multiple fishermen have been taking large numbers of big trout daily….I’m talking big! Get on the TLA 2010 photo gallery and you can see some of these hogs. The great fishing has resulted in great numbers of anglers on that stretch so; we went low to get away from the crowd and floated from High Bridge to Pipe Organ Bridge. We caught lots of nice fish…maybe not as big as the “football” rainbows and browns below the dam but plenty of fish in the 16 inch to 19 inch variety. The fish were taking the usual Beaverhead stuff, small (size 20) split backs, pheasant tails, etc. Numbers wise, we probably netted 30 to 40 fish. Water was perfect in flow and clarity. All good stuff on the Beaverhead and that river is expected to fish good the rest of the year.
The Madison July 8, 2010
We launched at Varney Bridge and fished the stretch down to the second takeout downstream…never can remember the name. The Madison is always a great experience because of its history and the fantastic views. The drive over to the Madison from Dillon through Twin Bridges, Sheridan and Virginia City is a wonderful trip and adds a lot to the enjoyment of the day. It was a strange day on the Madison. Weather wise, it was bright and sunny which always seems to inhibit the fish a bit but the water was perfect. We caught a lot of fish, all quite small, which is at least strange and borderline weird on that river which usually produces some big rainbows and browns. We surmised that the big fish had gorged themselves on salmon flies and other big bugs and were taking a day off from feeding. We caught numerous small fish on prince nymphs, hare’s ears, and an assortment of pheasant tails and scuds. Late in the day we stated with dry flies but got very few takes. However, within sight of the take out and in the middle of the river, guest Jimmy Hayles of Cashiers, North Carolina got a huge brown trout to take a hopper. The fish immediately headed upstream and took him to his backing. Was a great fight for several minutes with angler and pro guide Cory Streett dismounting the boat and giving chase to the fish. However, fish won the battle by taking the line around a rock and breaking off. Lots of fun in the fight and that big boy is still there. We have the spot marked and will try him again.
The Big Hole
We launched at Troutfitters and fished down to the George Grant (Dewey) take out. We were throwing dry flies most of the day and had great action the entire float catching the first fish, a nice brown, within a couple of hundred feet from the launch. We fished a size 12 – 14 attractor fly, stimulator, wulff, hopper, etc, teamed up with a small mayfly pattern. We caught a few fish on the big fly but most took the small offering and the most productive was the famous purple haze. The weather was partly cloudy and overcast which helped the fishing and the water was perfect for dry fly fishing. When that stretch of river is “on” dry fly fishing can be big fun and this was one of those days. About 3:30 PM the fish quit on the dry flies and we switched to a nymph rig and continued to catch fish at the same pace until we got to the take out.
Was a great three day experience of some of the best trout waters in North America. In August, we plan to expand the trip and take in the Jefferson and the Ruby.
