We had planned on spending a day to split up and do some back country fishing instead of spending the entire trip in the drifts boats. We figured it would be a great way to see some beautiful country, see some wildlife, and have a shot at some Westslope cutthroat or a Bull Trout. Also, Donny had an old high school buddy who lived in Deer Lodge, MT that he wanted to see and get to fish with. After some discussion, we figured out who was going where and we departed from our cabin early on monday morning with backpacks, food, and light fly rods. We were going in...
The plan for DonnyB, Crik, and Cole to head south to meet Donnys buddy, Chris, who was gonna take them up to an alpine lake and then over to the headwaters of Rock Creek to fish for some Westslope Cutthroat. After meeting up, they all piled into Chris' truck and started heading up in elevation. Now, I only got bits and pieces of the story but from what I gather, they had a nice mountain road to travel on for the majority of the trip and then the road just kinda...ended. Or so they thought. Chris just pointed his ol' Dodge dually up the mountain logging road/trail/path or whatever it was, then just kept on truckin' up the mountain. I guess it got pretty rough as they made their way up the road to the "trailhead".
After that, they loaded up their packs and started for the alpine lake. Now, from what I understand, the "trail" they had wasn't a walk in the park. Most of the hike was going off of Chris' memory and looking at his GPS I believe. They literally did some mountain climbing at certain points of the hike, working their way straight up the slope from what they tell me. Then at some point, they got turned around and kinda lost their way but thankfully, with the help of the GPS, they got back on track.
It was all worth it because they finally made it to their destination...
It was just your typical high mountain alpine lake. The water was very cold and crystal clear. The lake had a shallow flat all the way around it and then dropped off into an abyss in the middle. It didnt take the boys long to get rigged up and started combing the shallow flats around the lake's edge. They were rewarded all morning with pretty little cutthroat that were more than willing to eat just about any fly they wanted to toss out. Hoppers, streamers, nymphs...it didnt much matter from what I was told. The lake fished very well and the scenery wasnt too bad either...
After lunch sometime, the crew decided to hike back to the truck to load up and go hit the upper stretches of Rock Creek. I must say, I'm pretty jealous of the guys for this little part of their trip. They got to fish a section of Rock Creek that ran through one of Chris' friends property so basically they had the river all to themselves in that area. Again, they were met with some beautiful cutthroat that were eager to eat the bugs and some absolutely stunning scenery. No big cutties for the guys but plenty of spunky little guys to keep them entertained all evening. Also, as an added bonus, they spotted a cow moose and her youngster as they were coming to the creek to drink and snapped a few photos. Not a bad way to spend the day...
Now, for the story on our back country trip for the day. Squatch, The Professor, and I decided to head east from Missoula to check out a tributary of the Blackfoot River that was rumored to be full of eager Westslope Cutthroat. Now this place isn't a big secret in the Missoula area but otherwise its still somewhat of a hidden gem so it will be known as "River X". Hate me if you want, you would do the same thing if you had any respect for such an amazing place. Anyways, we headed east about an hour from the cabin and then turned off onto a dirt road that headed into the mountains. About 30 minutes later, we entered a massive gorge and started to meander our way towards the trailhead. We were met with views like this...
Soon after, we arrived at the trailhead parking lot and began to load up our packs for our hike in. Anxious and excited? You betcha! After a quick look at the trailmap, we picked a spot where we would put in on the river and started the 3 mile hike into the unknown. I will have to admitt, our hike was a cakewalk compared to what the other guys had. We only had 1 minor uphill climb, everything else was flat or downhill as we hiked into the valley. There had been a major fire here a little over a decade ago and you could still easily see all the damage to the mountain sides with all the burnt trees. It was awe inspiring to see how much had burned. According to the trailhead sign, it was the worst wildfire in Montana since the 1920s I believe, totally crazy. Even with all the wildfire damage, this place was still absolutely stunning. The hike in was beautiful to say the least. Places like this really show what they mean by "Big Sky Country" in Montana. I couldnt help but stop numerous times to just gawk. These pictures don't do this place justice at all...
Yes, its a bear track. A small one though...
After a little over an hour of hiking, we thought we were pretty close to the point where we had planned to start fishing so after a little quick bushwhack session we found ourselves streamside to the most beautiful stream I had ever seen. We all found a nice rock to take a seat on and took our time gearing up to rest from our hike and to take in the sights, smells, and sounds of such a beautiful piece of water. We had no more sat down and I spotted a pretty nice cutty laid up in a seam about 20 feet in front of us. Corey couldnt stand himself by that point and got his 4wt strung up, leaving his gear strung out across the stream bank. He stepped off into the stream, made 3-4 casts, and that same cutty we spotted made one of their signature lazy rises to Corey's stimulator...fish on! Not a bad way to start the day....
After that, we got our gear stowed back into our packs and proceeded to leap frog each other back downriver, hitting all the fishy runs along the way. This stream was absolutely packed full of Westslopes, all sizes too. They were all eager to eat the dry fly too. That slow cutthroat rise will absolutely drive you crazy as you wait for the eat. Needless to say, we missed a ton of fish just cuz we set too early. Also, the fish would just miss the fly cuz it would float by too fast for them to reach it. Not any particular pattern really worked over another. Size 12-14, bushy, and buggy....that got the job done. Purple hazes, parachute adams, stimulators, and foam ants did the trick for the most part. I will say this, the wading was pretty crazy. I was hardly ever actually "wading" in the stream, usually was perched up on a car sized boulder which was totally cool. You had to watch your step though cuz if you slipped, you were in for some pain. Boulder hopping was the name of the game. Needless to say, by the end of the day, my legs were wore smooth out.
The highlight of the day was right at lunchtime. Squatch and I had found a nice pool with an actual gravel bank to sit and eat lunch while we waited on Corey to catch up with us. After I had finished my granola and cracker lunch, I picked my stick back up and proceeded to fish out the pool. After a few casts, I had a nice fat 12-14" cutthroat oblige me with a rise to my stimulator and I was hooked up. As the fish was struggling in the current, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what I thought was a log coming unjammed from underneath a rock. This was no log as I began to watch it swim towards my fish. I soon realized what I was looking at was a 30+" Bull Trout stalking my fish at the end of the line. It was easily the biggest trout I had ever seen and I have seen some big browns on Taneycomo and on the White. This trout woulda made those fish its bitch, no doubt. It was huge. After several explicitives about the fish, Cody finally stood up to take a look but just as his shadow hit the water, the behemoth spooked out of the hole. It was stupid big. I will never forget that for as long as I live...
We fished our way downstream roughly 2 miles and came to a point where we thought we could hike out to the trail. Again, after a short bushwhack, we found ourselves on the main trail and began the short hike back to the truck. It was really hard leaving that place. I would of loved to been there in the late evening, I bet that place is a freak show with rising fish. We decided that if we ended up with an extra day, that whole group would return at the end of the week to fish it together. Nobody should be left out of fishing a place like this. Luckily, we did return, more on that later...
On a side note, when we got back to the truck after our hike, we found out that someone (me) had left the key on in the truck and ran the battery down!! Talk about a kick in the nuts after a long day of hiking and fishing. Luckily, another couple of hikers had hiked out just in front of us and they were able to give us a jump. Totally saved the day...
Stay with us...the story continues...
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