Montana Trip Report

[donwinn]

Well, Steve and I had a great trip to Montana. We fished out of Grizzly Hackle in Missoula. They handled our hotel arrangements as well. They are a first class operation. Our guide was Drew Miller who I had used once before. He was great! Interestingly, Drew and I had used the same great guide to fish for tarpon this spring in the keys. We both used Drew Delashmit. Of course Bryon refered me to the Drew in the keys. I would strongly recommend Drew Miller if you want a guide in the Missoula area. We fished the Bitterroot and Clark Fork with Drew. We also were lucky enough to get to fish on the Rock Creek as it opened the Saturday we were there. It had been closed due to fires. I have included a few pictures to give you a feel for our trip.




http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...a19InchBow.jpg

[mstone]

Hey donwinn,
What did you think about Rock Creek ? Access seems good.What about the fish size? Am going out in the area next July hopefully. Planning on spending a few days there. Crowded? Best fly patterns?

Thanks for any comments,
mstone

[donwinn]

Mstone,

Rock Creek was great. We only fished it one afternoon and caught a lot of fish for the time we were there. There is a lot of private property in the valley, but there are many access points to the creek. The fish are there and some have some good size. I caught two fish in the 14 inch range. I am sure there are larger fish there. We were using tricos and royals. I am not sure how crowded it would be under normal conditions. The area had been closed due to fires until the day we were there. So, there probably was not a lot on non-locals there. I certainly would give it a try. It is only 25 miles outside of Missoula. There are fly shops in the valley that will help you with the best flies for July.

[UofMontanaAlum]

Your pictures make me miss home! The 4 best years of my life (so far ) were in Missoula. Did you visit the university while you were there?

[donwinn]

UofMontanaAlum,

I can't imagine going to school there. We did not go on campus, but I did two years ago when I was out there with my wife. I told my fishing buddy, Steve, that I wish I had gone to school some place like that. He went to Oregon State. I stayed here at home to go. Of course, if I had gone out there, I probably would not have finished and would be a fishing bum today.

I have been in Montana a lot over the years. I have traveled quite a bit around this country and the world. Montana is my favorite place. I wish I could go back tomorrow.

[Bran]

Don, The wife wants to go out to Big Sky next summer and go to Yellowstone. I don't know if we'll do it yet but just wondered about your knowledge of that area and the fishing. I haven't started researching it yet but I just looked at Missoula on the map as opposed to Big Sky. If we go should I plan to try for a couple days toward Missoula in addition to Big Sky?

[donwinn]

Bran,

Missoula is a great place, but I don't think I would leave the Madison, Yellowstone, and Gallatin rivers and drive 4 - 5 hours to Missoula. Those are three of the premier rivers in the world. You also have the Firehole and Gibbon in the park. To the west of Big Sky (closer than Missoula), you have the Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers - two more famous rivers. I think you will have more water than you can fish within 2 hours of Big Sky. You are going to have a great time! Have you been to Yellowstone before? It is a little piece of heaven on earth. Of course, when you are in the geyser basin, you will think more of **** than heaven. You really should go. You can fish in the park, but if possible, I would hire a guide outside the park for one day.

Watch out for the grizzly bears!

[UofMontanaAlum]

I can't decide what I need to take with me on my trip out to MT this Christmas. My skis or my fly rod. Decisions, decisions

(...probably both but don't tell the wife )

[Bran]

I was wondering about the guide. I've never been, so it'll be all new. We have talked about going for years, we are looking at next summer. I get the feeling that we'll need more than a week to see it. It's something like a 45 or 50 minute drive from the Big Sky lodge to the Old Faithful area in Yellowstone. Thanks for the info Don.--Bran

[donwinn]

UofMAlum,

How is the weather at Christmas? Are you originally from Montana? My wife is from just about as far south as you can get and not be on an island, so, going somewhere cold for the holidays or to live is not really in the cards. What brought you to Tennessee?