Brook trout clown suit

Brook trout skin

Here in Montana, we have plenty of those little dink brookies that come to most people's minds when you say "brook trout." They are not native here and they cause some ecological trouble with our native and threatened bull char.  However, in Georgetown Lake, they are somewhat isolated from the rest of the watershed and they are managed for in a positive way because they get huge.  Some of them can get to Labrador, Canada-type sizes.  In the fall, they put on their clown suits and are the most colorful fish you can find.

Big boy guarding his redd in Emily Spring

As of now, the brookies in the lake are in full to late spawn and are just about impossible to catch. The good pre-spawn fishing is over but you can find some schooled-up roamers moving around that are not on the redds.  Throwing a big streamer at them may piss one off but at this point, it's a lost cause.  However, there is a fun alternative.  The rainbows will also join these moving herds. Throw an unweighted double egg rig right in front of the moving school.  As they all move over it, watch your line tip.  Once it starts following the school, set the hook.  It will be a big G-town rainbow every time!

Take your kids up to see the kokanee and brookie spawners in Emily spring and the hoards of eagles. I'd be surprised if you made it all the way around the lake and did not spot a moose or 2 as well.

The spawn is on

Rainbow trout spawn at Georgetown Lake

The rainbows and cutts are on the spawn all over Montana Right now.  One of the most fascinating places to watch this is at Georgetown Lake.  Here, thousands of large rainbows spawn on the east shore, in Emily Spring, and in the tributaries like Stewart Mill Creek.  There are so many trout that other animals key in, especially eagles.  If you want a local taste of what a salmon spawn in Alaska is like, head up to G-town and bring a camera!

Rainbow trout spawning swarm in Emily Spring

As of last week, there was still a lot of ice on the lake

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!!

A little surprise

Upper Clark Fork brook trout

So, my "work/school fishing trip" to the Butte area turned into a work/school fishing trip.  Turns out, getting all the required documents to my new school is a lot more laborious than I expected.  However, I did have to shoot back over there yesterday to look at an apartment.  That left me like 45 minutes of daylight in a snowstorm to hit the Upper Clark Fork below the ponds.

I had been fishing for like 5 minutes when I hooked into this male brookie all colored up for the spawn.  I've never caught a brook trout this big in the Clark fork.  There are huge brookies upstream of the ponds and the tribs in the area are loaded with them but this big boy was right in the main stem and was surely a post spawn holdover.

There are redds everywhere in the upper CF right now from the browns (and some brookies I guess) which have been abandoned.  I'm sure you can still find some fish on redds, but it looks like the spawn is over.  Be really careful up here, don't be a dick and fish for trout on their redds.  More importantly, don't walk on the redds.

Redds are easy to spot in small streams like the upper Clark Fork, especially redds from fish who spawn in the fall.  The bottom is usually covered in dead organic material which is a darker color.  The redds are dinner plate to dinner table sized areas of stream bed which are clean gravel.  They are usually in slower water and at the tailouts of deeper holes.

You can see that this fish is wrapped in my leader.  I didn't take the time to try and get a perfect picture because this guy could potentially still be trying to find a mate and he most likely just had a long voyage from wherever he came from.  This was a quick lift out of the net, snap, and release type deal.  Notice the EZ Bunny hanging out of his mouth.

Winter fishing is full of surprises.      

Insane trout orgy

The higher elevation rainbow and cutthroat trout are now in full spawn mode.  These pics are from the east shore of Georgetown Lake and Emily Spring.  These areas are closed to fishing until the madness ends.

Rainbow trout spawning swarm in Emily Spring

East shore Georgetown Lake, MT

East shore Georgetown Lake, MT

The spawn is on!

The rainbow and cutthroat trout of Montana are on the spawn.  Last week, I witnessed the massive trout orgy that takes place near Holter Dam on the Missouri.  There, the trout make dinner table-sized, community redds.  I can sit there and watch them for hours.  The big colored male and the female getting it on while three smaller males wait in formation for the opportunity to sneak in there when the big guy is distracted chasing away other males.  I was surprised to see that the other people around were oblivious to the redds.  People were fishing them (I honestly don't think they knew they were there) and dropping anchors and parking boats over them.  It was hard to watch.

Yesterday, I took a walk along the banks of Rattlesnake Creek in a local park here in Missoula. Rattlesnake Creek is a major spawning tributary for the fish in the Clark Fork around Missoula.  It is a beautiful creek that comes out of the Rattlesnake Wilderness.  It mostly gets ignored by fisherpeople but it is a fine trout stream all year long. Right now, the Rattlesnake is lousy with spawning fish.  They are everywhere!  

Go check them out and show the kids but do not mess with them.  The creek is closed to fishing for two more weeks to allow the spawn to take place.  It is a great way to see the WILD,  amazing, huge, and beautiful trout that live in the Clark Fork and watch real world biology in action!  Real fish porn.        

large male rainbow on redd

mating pair of rainbows on redd

Betula occidentalis - western water birch blossoms

Western Montana Fishing Reports

Rainbow in downtown Missoula

The Clark Fork (at Warm Springs):
Some of the best fishing up there is during this time of the year.  It's all about the right flies up there.  They want pink tailwater stuff right now.  Midge stuff, pink scuds, eggs, and the sot hackle sow bug rules here!  I had a 40 fish day up there last week with many of those nice browns running over 18" in length.  There were midges and i noticed one rise but nothig in the way of solid dry fly fishing yet.

The Clark Fork (around Missoula):
Water levels are down to where accessing the good winter runs is not a suicidal act.  The water is still cold and there is not a lot going on yet.  I dredged up a few right in downtown yesterday.  Normally, at this time of the year, the CF has been nymphing great for months and is starting to pop BWO's.  Not this year.  I did notice some rises to the midges yesterday.  They were too few and far between for me to cut the nymph rig off.  Flies that work include: Smaller rubber leg stones in brown/green, worms, big prince and pheasant tails nymphs, eggs.  Fish the slow winter runs still.

The Bitterroot (lower)
For the most part, you wont see me fishing the upper Bitterroot.  It can look like the Salmon River in NY up there these days and I don't go fishing to hang out in a crowd.  I do fish the lower river consistently though.  It is a different beast and most fishing reports don't give it enough attention.  I hope to shine some light on it.  The water is still big but it is clear and green.  The nymphing is fantastic right now.  I caught lots of huge pre-spawn rainbows and some great browns on the soft hackle sow bug trailed below a rubber leg stone.  This river is normally on fire this time of year.  The trout haven't even got going on the midges yet this year.  Normally, they'd have been eating them on top since Feb. then weeks of BWO's followed by all the big bugs and the crowds.  It is still a total nymph game right now, but not for long.  Stonefly nymphs that look like skwala, worms, eggs, midges, baetis nymphs, and the soft hackle sow bug rules here!

Rock Creek
If you don't mind throwing nymphs, specifically egg patterns, you can have a life changing day up at the creek right now.  Just be sure to know what a redd looks like and stay the fuck away from it!!  The big Clark Fork rainbows and cutts are staging in the lower reaches and their brown friends are right behind them getting ready to eat eggs.  The chance to catch the fish of a lifetime, all day long is there, but you have to work for it.  Nymphing heavy and deep and losing all your flies is the only way to go about it.  You have to put in some footwork too.  Get away from the other fisherman, commit yourself to a full day and you will catch fish like you never have before.  Stonefly nymphs in any size or shape, smaller mayfly stuff, worms, egg patterns, the soft hackle sow bug should be illegal on this stream!  Pinch your barbs!

The Blackfoot
The same story as the Clark Fork around Missoula.  Still big and cold from the crazy winter.  The same nymphs in the same type of water will work.

Area Lakes
I'm excited to have this as part of my report because nobody reports on the lakes and that is just stupid.  Western Montana has thousands of awesome lakes and ponds and a ton of elbow room and great fishing.  I love to fish still water.  I think it can be incredibly hard and fun.  So here it is:  the area lakes are all still frozen!  Of course, but Beavertail Pond is normally open by now.  I checked last week and it was still frozen.  There was about a foot of thaw at the edge.  I'm going back to check on it today.  Ice-out in Montana should be declared a state holiday!  I'll keep you informed.  Once Beavertail goes, the rest follow in perfect succession in relation to their elevation.  You will certainly see pictures of big, nasty, steelhead sized, brood stockers on the blog soon.  Stay tuned!