Saturday, August 1, 2009
A great Ruby River Brown being revived after a tough battle.
Mid afternoon on the first day of August, we fished the scenic Ruby River, a smaller version of the Beaverhead. The drive along the beautiful Ruby River Valley is inspirational and should remind any angler that Montana is, as they say, “the last best place.” We parked at the public fishing access below the dam, took the short hike down the trail to the river, and began fishing immediately below the foot bridge. The river was running full and the water had a lot of color but was plenty fishable. We got hooked up on the first cast which was an indication of good things to come. For three hours we experienced some of the best fishing imaginable and never got out of sight of the foot bridge. Did not make an official count but would estimate that we landed at least twenty five fish, five rainbows and the rest browns. These fish were all big, ranging from 15 inches up to near 20 inches. They ate size 20 split backs and were really hungry for the magic “real meal deal”. If you don’t have this fly in your box, get some! Like the Beaverhead, the fish are stacked up in the upper part of the river. The Ruby is fishing a lot like the Beaverhead in every respect……..except for one thing……we did not see another fisherman all afternoon.
