Big Fish in the Bitterroot

I love to fish, more specifically fly fish. To me, the whole process is enjoyable—from sitting down to tie flies in the winter to hitting the water when it starts to warm up in the spring. Once in the water, there’s just something about watching a trout rise to the surface and strike at a fly. Some of the smaller fish will jump completely out of the water to get that fly while the larger ones just nose above the water to “sip” it in.

My favorite place to fish, by far, is in a smaller stream with pockets, deep holes, small riffles and overhangs or logs along the bank. I love walking along in the water, feeling the current, hearing the churning of the water and keeping an eye out for other wildlife.


The beautiful Bitterroot River

 My latest outing was completely different yet a heck of a lot of fun. I had a friend (thanks Cameron) who won a 2/3rds day guided fishing outing trip but he could not use it so he passed it on to me. I’d only been in a drift boat one other time and none of the three of us caught anything all day, except when we pulled over and I wandered off to do some wade fishing.

John's first fish on a fly rod

I met up with my guide, friend and Grizzly Hackle owner Dan Shepherd, and friend John Clement, a fly fishing beginner, in the morning. We hopped in Dan’s rig and pulled the boat south of Stevensville where we put in at Bell Crossing in the Bitterroot River. I spent the day fishing on top of the water while John fished mostly below the water with an indicator and nymphs. John had never caught a fish on his fly rod (even though we tried two evenings earlier) so Dan was determined to change that. And that’s exactly what happened.

We hadn’t been on the water 15 minutes when John pulled in a nice whitefish. In fact, by the time the day was done John caught more fish than I did (5 to 3). Even though the fish were not in a feeding frenzy all day, it was a great time. The temperatures were in the 50s with some nice cloud cover. The main bummer was gusty winds at times made it difficult to cast. Still, we had a blast. The fall yellows and oranges of the cottonwoods reflected off the waters leaving everything around us a colorful display.

For me, there were several highlights. The best part was just spending time with friends. (The three of us used to all be in the same church congregation together.) We had a good time and got good direction from Dan as he rowed up and down the river, indicating the best places to try to coax out some nice trout. It was fun watching John’s face light up as he pulled in fish. I did have some luck too. I caught my first fish, a 16 inch rainbow, after casting next to a log jam. Since I had polarized glasses, I actually watched it swim over a submerged log and strike my fly. It was a big lunker and took me a little while to get it reeled in.  



Showing off my 18' lunker Dan



Not long after that, I was casting left off the boat but then saw a fish rises about 20 feet ahead of the boat. I quickly spun and threw my fly right in its path. It surfaced just shy of my small fly and then struck at it. I hooked it immediately but then the fight was on. It seemed to remain in one place for at least 30 seconds.  There was no tugging. It was as if I’d snagged the bottom, but I knew it was a fish because I could see it parallel to the boat. After about a minute, it finally made a run so I let the line out so it wouldn’t snap me off. Dan was worried because the fish was well below the boat. I said “I want to jump out of the boat!” “Not yet!” Dan said. We entered a semi-swift portion of the river and he wanted to get us over to the edge. When he got a little closer I jumped out and got downstream until the fish was again just across from me. Finally, after a 4-5 minute fight, I finally coaxed it to the shoreline. Dan netted it and “Whoa,” there it was. It was big, thick, long and pretty. It turned out to be 18 inches long—the third largest fish I ever caught on a fly rod. We took several photos and carefully handled it in the net until it finally took off back into the Bitterroot. Fun stuff indeed!

I guess my other highlight was lunch. When we got ready to put the boat in, Dan asked John and me if we wanted a table and chairs for lunch. A table and chairs? We told him we’d rather just find a log or a bank to sit on. That’s exactly what we did. Dan pulled the boat over at about one o’clock. Then he got out a small grill and fried up three fat burgers for lunch. Add a couple of salads, chips, a pear and cookies and we were set. In just a matter of minutes, I went from being very hungry to very full. Now that’s how you do lunch on the river.

I only caught one more fish the rest of the day while John caught several more. All in all, what a great outing—great weather, great company, great food, a great guide and great results. Thanks again Dan and John.