The Upper Clark Fork in winter

Mt Powell and the Upper Clark Fork in January

The Upper Clark Fork, from the outlet of the Anaconda Settling Ponds down to around Galen, is essentially a tailwater fishery and it fishes all winter.  It is full of of brown trout, has some giant rainbows which fall over the spillway from the ponds, and has the occasional cutthroat and brook trout mixed in.

Frozen foam disks

This stretch of river sees a lot of pressure because the fishing is awesome so, it can get really technical.

Ice in the guides

It can get crowded at times.  This is easily avoidable though, so long as you fish at odd times and during the off season.  Also, similar to Rock Creek, most of the people fishing here have no idea what the hell they are doing.  If you have half an idea, you can usually come right behind them and catch fish.  Just try to stay out of sight.

 Staying out of sight is going to be harder for a while as two major sections of the floodplain and stream are closed right now due to some restoration work.  An area about a half mile down stream of the spillway (near the first bridge) has been closed for a while and there is another section on the Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch that is under construction now.

See ya later Mr. Brown

All I can say is that I'm stoked about the restoration work and the future of the fishery.  I'm also excited to now live 20 minutes away.  Want some good advice?  Fight the urge to fish nymphs and throw SMALL streamers.  There are also some epic midge, BWO, hopper, and caddis hatches up here at the appropriate times.