Missouri River autumn magic

Missouri River Morning

We spent the weekend in wonderful Craiglandia, Montana and it was fabulous.  The trout were huge, hungry, and acrobatic.  They even took my mind off my new carp obsession for the first time in months.

The Craig Bridge

The trees were hanging on to the last of their color, the weather was great, and the fishing was off the charts.

MO Brown

A couple of nice browns were hooked in between the onslaught of huge rainbows. We fished double sowbug short leash in shallow water and could not stop catching fish.  Then, I noticed some orange swimming around in the back part of a seam.  I threw a streamer at it and this happened:

Two rare occurrences, a picture of me on the blog and a huge kokanee salmon in the Wolf Creek area. 

So, I guess some kokanee occasionally make it over the dam and into the river.  This was the biggest kokanee I've ever caught.  We saved it from a lonely death.  He's going into the smoker!

Kokanee kype.  Look at those teeth!!

Nose to nose.

Fall is flying by.  Don't let it slip through your hands.  You've got months of football and cabin fever ahead.  See you in the field!

Autumn is about more than just brown trout...

Giant Georgetown Lake brook trout

I absolutely love brown trout!  I live in a part of Montana which is lousy with tons of huge, angry browns and fall is like the Superbowl of brown trout fishing.  However, it's always good to remember that there are some other great fall spawners worth pursuing as well.

Georgetown Lake, Silver Bow Creek, and the Big Hole River all hold larger-than-average sized brook trout.  The monster male shown above was over 20" long!  I bet folks back east didn't know they could get that big.  Our brook trout here in SW Montana (especially in Georgetown Lake) rival those found in Labrador, Newfoundland.

Other fall species to chase in Montana are:

• Kokanee salmon (landlocked sockeye) - great fun and good food
• Lake Trout moving out of Flathead Lake (yes, in the fall you can catch them on streamers in shallow water and the Flathead River)
• Bull Trout (only in the South Fork of the Flathead!!)
• Pike seem extra feisty in the fall and are easy to spot in the Lower Clark Fork and Bitterroot
• There is even a strain of fall spawning rainbow in the Upper Missouri (above all the dams)

For all of these fish, you'll want to throw streamers.  Check out the streamer factory on my dining room table.  Priorities.

Red Boat Mark's dining room table

It's fall, get out there!!

The Big Hole River, Montana in the Fall

Maiden Rock Bridge

The Big Hole is arguably one of the most beautiful rivers anywhere.  In the Autumn, it is really out of control.  This river is predominantly a brown trout stream, making Fall even more mystic and exciting!  This is my first Autumn in Butte and the closest large river is the Big Hole.  I have a lifetime of exploring to do here and I'm really happy about it.

Yesterday, the fishing was great.  I'd rather have been in my raft all day but this was a quick after-work fix. The streamer bite is on!!  Yellow bunny streamers and darker Skiddish Smolts were the ticket.  The fish were in faster knee-deep riffles and absolutely pounded the fly.  It felt like I'd hit a boulder and then there'd be that brown trout, throbbing head-shake.

I had the place to myself with the exception of this guy who fished for a little while in one spot.  He had brought his wife and kids who waited stream-side in their truck.  Poor bastard!!

It was mostly cloudy but when the sun would break through, the Fall colors were outstanding.  I saw some really slappy rises from big fish here and there and figured there must be some remaining October caddis.  I put on an appropriate foamy and skated it over a shallow riffle and Boom, rainbow trout!

There were some signs that the spawn is getting going.  I caught a couple rainbows on egg-type stuff and a guy came by and told me that he saw some browns sitting on redds in the upper river by Wisdom.  He also mentioned that the fishing was slow up there and that is was really weedy.  He was from out-of-state so it may just have been him.

The Fall has really just begun here in Southwest Montana.  I can't wait to float the Jefferson for the first time, hit the awesome streamer maddness on the MO as always, the Yellowstone beacons as does the Madison, and there's huge brook trout on the spawn in Georgetown Lake.  Not to mention the Upper Clark Fork and the brookies in Silver Bow.

Too much awesomeness, too little time!!