Christmas means staying in touch with new and old friends

Christmas means staying in touch with new and old friends

The 2010 fishing season for Wapiti Waters was a wonderful one. Current friends and clients fished with us and we made wonderful new friends. We recently received an email from new friends in Alaska. They fished with Jack in late October and caught trout. Jack also caught a darn big pike. They sent photos in the email and here they are. See the featured photo above and then view the rest in the slideshow below.

Thanks to everyone who fished with us in 2010. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and  happy new year!

Fly fishing for pike on the lower Bitterroot

Fly fishing for pike on the lower Bitterroot

I forgot to post this. Jack caught a big pike on the Bitterroot earlier this month. He is still on his mission of removing pike from our local coldwater fisheries.

Now that Milltown Dam is removed and the reservoir gone, maybe we can get the pike numbers down. The reservoir was a major rearing area for pike because it was good habitat for young pike. It had warmer, slow water and lots of smaller trout that young pike could eat.

Pike eat a lot of juvenile trout so we don’t mind harvesting these voracious fish. 

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot with Bob and Peggy and Bob’s bamboo rod

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot with Bob and Peggy and Bob’s bamboo rod

Bob and the trout he caught on his bamboo rod

Bob and Peggy live in the Bitterroot south of Hamilton. They love to fish, love the outdoors and are avid Bitterroot Trout Unlimited supporters and members. We are proud of their service to one of our favorite organizations.

They fished with Jack on a nice fall day in late October. Bob used his bamboo rod and both of them caught some nice trout.

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot – surprised with trico/bass fishing

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot – surprised with trico/bass fishing

Large mouth bass from the middle Bitterroot River

Jack and Doug fished the trico hatch and a big surprise was this large bass! They did catch some trout, no pike, and of course this significant bass.

Update!!! Above is only part of the story. When I asked Jack more about how he caught this bass, the whole story came together.  They WERE fishing the trico hatch until it was done. When the day got warmer and sunnier, they switched to the 9 wt rod and pike flies. They were fishing for pike in a slow section near a backwater and they caught this bass there. So that is the rest of the story. My apologies for not getting all the info in the first place. (Merle)

Fly Fishing – trico-pico day on the Bitterroot with Marshall

Fly Fishing – trico-pico day on the Bitterroot with Marshall

Marshall with his pike from the Bitterroot.
Photo courtesy of Marshall Bloom.

All photos are courtesy of Marshall Bloom. They used his camera. This is a day on the lower Bitterroot. They were looking to fish tricos and to catch pike. Looks like a pretty successful and beautiful day. Thanks, Marshall, for the photos! By the way, grilled elk steak was the main course for lunch. Yum.

See all of Marshall’s photos of pike and the Bitterroot River below.

Wapiti Waters recommends (and really uses) these items:

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot River with Jim and Phil

Fly Fishing the Bitterroot River with Jim and Phil

Phil and his Bitterroot rainbow trout

Jim and Phil from Washington, DC came to Montana and fished with Jack on Sept 17 and 18. The Bitterroot was their river of choice and it paid off. There wasn’t a lot of time for fishing photos, but here are a few taken from the boat. I am including a few more that I (Merle) took on the morning of first day as they were getting ready to start the day.
Click here to see all the photos in a new window.

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