The Montana "Man Trip", part IV: Fishing the Bitterroot River

We booked a fly fishing trip with Jim of Montana Hunting and Fishing Adventures on the Bitterroot River during our two night stay at McCart Lookout.  Laura and I had received a bit of instruction from our friend Micah during a fishing trip in Missouri, but were certainly far from practiced.  

Jim gave us some hands-on tips on casting and retrieving a fly in the Bitterroot Fly Company parking lot before we headed out and he worked us into it slowly once on the water.  I must say that I was very pleased with his coaching, giving us gentle constructive criticism along the way, but also making us feel good by acknowledging when we nailed a cast.  His ability to predict when a certain well-placed cast was likely to result in a strike was uncanny!

After fishing from shore on the Big Hole, I was excited to drift fish, but I was also nervous after seeing the crowds on the Big Hole.  I didn't want to worry about getting in people's way and wanted to enjoy the river without constant traffic.  Well, I sure am glad that we booked with Jim on the Bitterroot instead of booking on the Big Hole.  Maybe some aficionados have their reasons to prefer the Big Hole, but the trip with Jim was precisely what I hoped for.  The river was smaller, there wasn't a road paralleling within sight of the river, and we only saw 2 other boats during the first 80% of our trip.  Even after that, we only saw a few others.  It was just Laura, Jim, and I almost the entire time.

And the fish and the ducks and the eagles!  We spotted this merganser hen with ducklings swimming along the river banks.  They hit some bushes along the shoreline that they would have to go around, but there was a sizeable wave just outside the branches.  We watched as she went under and through the wave and the little ones followed.  We didn't get a good count before and after, but most of them appeared on the other side.  It is remarkable how well-adapted young animals can be to their environments.



We did well early to not snag.  With the water so high, Jim instructed us to cast as close to those tangles of limbs and roots as we could.  Eventually we got confident (or cocky) and really pushed our casts closer.  Jim kept a smile and kept encouraging us to go for it as he tied on fly after fly.  He also did a great job of directing us on how to read the water and where to cast.  We each got about a dozen bites throughout the float, but either missed the hookset or had the fish come off while we were fighting them most of the time.  



Riding in the float boat was integral to how awesome this trip was.  It went beyond the added maneuverability that the boat and Jim's muscle gave us.  The swivel seat that I sat on was perched over the aft pontoon.  I was turning left and right to fire off casts, all the while hanging over the water.  It was really neat to be in that position over the water while fishing, and was different than any boat, canoe, or float tube fishing I had ever done.

The scenery was also picturesque.  Jim pointed out many local sights along the river.  Also, on our drive to the river with Jim, he showed us a ranch with a new "Yosemite Ranch" sign, which is the filming location of a new TV drama, "Yosemite".  He said he had even caught some trout that had been used as props for a fly fishing scene in the show.

I lucked into landing four Cutthroat Trout on the day, but will forever be haunted by the "big one that got away" from the bent rod picture at the end of this series (Laura did apologize for "jinxing" it by taking a picture).  It was solidly larger than the others I caught and I played it for probably 30 seconds before the line went inexplicably limp.  That's the way she goes sometimes, boys.




I'm pretty sure that Jim kept us on the water longer than the half-day that we had booked, allowing us to stop and take some pictures along the way.  We enjoyed fresh fruit, sausage, cheese, and Squirt soda for lunch.






When Jim learned that we were both into birds, he took us on a small detour to see this bald eagle nest with a young eagle perched on top.  He said this nest has been there for many years.


All the while, Laura kept a great attitude despite not landing a fish.  Of course, the amazing scenery and Jim's company were a huge part of her cheerfulness.  She persevered, fishing constantly, even while I was taking pictures, until we were within sight of the boat pull-out...


...and wouldn't you know it, that one-more-cast, never-give-up attitude paid off!  Within eyesight of the takeout, on the last bend in the river, she hooked and landed one!  I'm normally very discrete about catching fish and Laura sometimes is surprised when she sees me taking one of the hook, not knowing I even had one on.  But I yelled with excitement when her fish hit the net!  I think both Jim and I wanted her to catch one more than we were worried about any of the other fish in the river that day.  And when she smiles like that, who wouldn't want Laura to catch a fish?!



- John

Laura's Wildlife Log:

Fishing the Bitterroot River:
Mergansers
Peeps
Bald Eagle
Cutthroat Trout

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