Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Last Thursday I fished with long-time anglers, Alan and Bruce. These guys come out every year for the spring Skwala hatch, but they happened to be out in Montana this month and wanted to check out the Land of the Giants.
We motored to the upper river on a gorgeous morning and Alan wasted no time as he hooked up with 2 big rainbows on the first 2 passes. That was enough to change Bruce up to the same flies, and yet Alan’s hot streak continued with a bent rod on every drift.
Bruce cracked the ice with a couple fish that didn’t make it to the net and then he put it all together with a lengthy rainbow on a small fly. From there we had a good groove and even added a couple doubles into the mix before stopping for lunch.
In the afternoon I decided to try the middle river because it was empty of traffic. That turned out to be a good call as the fishing was lights out early on. The first pass produced multiple nice fish including a brown trout and another double.
The fishing tightened up a little after that, but we still managed at least one healthy specimen on each drift. To finish the day off we motored all the way back up to the dam for a long drift through the upper river.
Another double and a couple more hook ups as Alan and Bruce finished the day off strong. We had a great time on the water and the guys were not only impressed with how big the fish were, but how hard they fought as well. They are already planning a return to LOG for next year.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Last Friday was my first day of the season with local angler Herb. Bad weather in the spring prevented us from getting out and then I took his family earlier in the summer so I was looking forward to catching up with Herb.
Of course, he brought his yellow lab Gracie along for the ride as well. We launched on the upper Bitterroot and I was a little surprised no one else was around. We ended up having that stretch of river to ourselves all day. Herb was fishing a single dry and the first several runs only yielded one small cutthroat.
We changed flies in a reliable run and Herb immediately hooked up with a solid 14″ cutthroat. From there we started to see fairly steady action on the dry from a mix of small and mid-sized cuts. Most all of the good runs would produce at least one fish.
I expected the action to improve in the afternoon as things warmed up, but it stayed about the same. We tried a couple different ant patterns that produced some fish, but wasn’t exactly the answer we were looking for.
A small, pink hopper was best in the afternoon and we stuck with it the rest of the way. Herb added a couple small rainbows and one brown to a number of cutthroat that ranged from 8-14″.
It was nice day to be on the water with temps that weren’t too warm, no wind, and enough trout eating dry flies to keep it interesting.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Long-time angler, Chris, was back in town and wanted to take another shot at Land of the Giants on Thursday so we met early and made the drive over the hill. We started out on the upper river and Chris had 3 eats and a really big rainbow on in the first few hundred yards.
That fish threw the fly on a violent jump, but Chris hooked another thick rainbow a few casts after that and put that big girl in the net. The trout were definitely on the hunt today as Chris had multiple hook ups on each pass in the morning. Our best run was 5 hooked and 3 landed.
We stopped for an early lunch and then slid down into the mid-river for some solitude. The fish were hungry there too as the first rainbow broke us off just after the hook set and then Chris connected with two more in that run. We moved over to some faster water after that and Chris came tight on a truly huge rainbow.
I saw the fish flash underwater a couple times and knew immediately that it would be tricky. There are a bunch of big boulders in that spot and Chris did his best to try to keep that fish out of the rocks, but it ended up being the big one that got away today.
After that we went back to the upper river for the rest of the afternoon and it proved to be just as consistent as the morning. Chris had multiple hook ups on each pass and we put some more heavy rainbows in the net. It was another great day at LOG with excellent weather and trout that were eating from start to finish.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Friday I was back on the water with Chris, and today we were joined by 3 of his friends for a float through the canyon of the Blackfoot. It is Chris’ favorite stretch of water so we had to give it a shot. I had Chris and Jeff in my boat while fellow guide Trevor had Jack and Roger.
We started off the day with dry/dropper rigs and Chris stuck a small rainbow on the big dry in our first spot. Then we pushed downriver and encountered an elk herd standing in the river. They let us float fairly close to them before the big herd bull pushed them across the river.
It was the best elk experience I have had while on the river. After that the dropper fishing was fair. Chris picked up a handful of small to mid-sized cuts in the deeper runs, and a big 17″ cutt out of Munchmore. A few runs after that big fish we switched over to single dry fly.
I had Chris with a small mayfly and Jeff with a hopper. The very next spot produced a fat 15″ cutthroat for Chris and then he nailed a couple more just downstream of that. I switched Jeff over to the same fly and we were off to the races from there.
Chris had the magic touch and raised a quality fish to the dry in nearly every run through the canyon. He was having a blast, and Jeff did well in the back especially considering it was the first time he had ever fished small dry flies before.
He landed a couple of nice cutthroat and a handful of smaller ones. The fishing tapered off some in the afternoon. We still had fish eating dries in most of the spots, but the smaller trout were on the attack with only a couple of better fish after lunch.
Despite the slower finish, it was the best Blackfoot day I’ve had in a while with some solid dry fly action through the canyon.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Saturday was the start of the annual Grizzly Ride with a group of great folks coming together at the E bar L guest ranch for the benefit of the University of Montana. For years I have fished with Bill for the first two days of the Ride, and today we were joined by local angler, Warren.
We launched on a stretch of the upper Clark Fork and started off with dry/dropper rigs. The first bank produced a brief hook up for Bill and then Warren stuck a small rainbow in the next spot and connected with a solid 16″ cuttbow in the run below that.
It was definitely a front of the boat game early on as Warren had the lion’s share of the action. He had a big fish that was on for a while before making a hot run and breaking off, and a number of small to mid sized rainbows and cuttbows.
Bill was fishing the same flies in the same water, and he managed to hook up a few but Warren wasn’t leaving many scraps behind. He picked up another bright 16″ bow in a back eddy next to a log and then we took a break in the shade for lunch.
Bill finally got in on some action in the afternoon with a nice fish that went racing all through a fast run on him. Then the dropper fishing started to dry up. I switched flies a few times and that yielded a couple other small trout, but eventually we switched over to single dries to finish out the day.
The fish weren’t too excited about those either. Warren had a number of smaller fish slapping at his bug while Bill hooked a couple on an ant pattern.
We threw different hoppers, ants, and attractors and it just wasn’t happening in the afternoon. We had some decent action in the morning followed by a slower afternoon.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Sunday I was back on the water with Bill and today we were joined by Grizzly Rider, Mike. We met early and headed up to the canyon of the Blackfoot. It was 37 at the put in and I wasn’t expecting much early, but Mike hooked two and landed one on the dropper in the first run.
We pushed downstream a ways after that and Mike stuck a decent rainbow in the next run and followed that up with a cutthroat off a fallen tree. It was respectable dropper fishing and Bill joined in with his first fish out of the ledge run.
In Munchmore Mike tagged 3 small cutts and hooked a big fish that broke him off on a hard run. He added another to the tally in the run just around the corner and then we made the switch to single dries. Mike fished a small mayfly while Bill stuck with a bigger bug that was easier to see.
The mayfly produced steady action for Mike all the way through the canyon and Bill connected with a few on the big bug. It was mostly smaller cutts and cuttbows looking up with a couple of decent fish. Mike tagged one more rising fish before we pulled in for lunch.
For the afternoon I put Bill on a hopper and Mike fished a small ant pattern. The ant proved to be a hot item as Mike raised fish in every run while Bill picked off a handful on the hopper.
The guys doubled a couple times and one of the highlights of the day was when a big bull trout grabbed one of the cutthroats that Mike was bringing in. He fought that big guy for quite a while but it eventually spit the cutthroat out and swam off.
Mike capped off the day with a chunky 14″ cutthroat that moved several feet to eat his fly. It was steady action throughout with plenty of dry fly eats. The trout trended a little smaller today with a few bigger ones mixed in, but the weather was perfect and we didn’t see another angler all day.
Fall Fishing the Land of the Giants
Fall is definitely in the air in Montana. The mornings are cooler and the days are getting shorter.
Our fishing around Missoula has started to pick back up as well. Hoppers, ants, and tricos are on the menu and cloudy days will bring Hecubas and Mahagony duns soon enough!
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
