My brother, Roy, came from Whitefish to fish and float the upper Bitterroot on Sunday and were surprised that we saw only two other boats. The first of the boats was another guide but the second was Rob who had come down from the Kalispell area to fish with George. It was great to see them and introduce the northern boys (Whitefish and Kalispell are in northwest Montana) to one another, albeit while wearing fishing gear including hats and dark glasses and floating by on a fairly fast river. It is kind of like meeting someone while skiing. You might never recognize them in street clothes.

The river was up enough to be pretty fast and a little bit cloudy, especially where the tributaries flowed in. We did see skwala, but not very many. We worked hard at trying different patterns and even some nymph fishing. The morning fishing was slow, but we had better success in the afternoon.

The slideshow below will take you down the river by photographs. By the time we got to the take-out, I was busy keeping the puppy close so I stopped taking photos just above it. I did capture an old car rip-rap bank, various birds, pretty cliffs, stone outcroppings, vistas, and of course some trout.