This trip was in the middle of April but I am getting caught up with some posts. As you can see, the weather is very cool. People are bundled up, but there have been hatches and the water levels have been good. If you dress right, the fishing is great.
In these photos are Rachel and Elinor. Rachel sent some of the photos in the slideshow, thank you!
And I think this was Elinor’s first fly fishing experience. As you can see, she did well. So did others, it was a good few days on the Bitterroot.
Doc was at his Montana home on the Bitterroot for a few weeks in April. Of course he was fishing with friends, on his own and with Jack. I guess Jack is also a friend – but a friend that fishes for a living. Sadly, Doc’s and our good friend and favorite fishing buddy, Terry Nobles, isn’t able to fish any more. At 90 years old, it just doesn’t work for him now. But we visit him with photos and river stories.
Bitterroot April 9, 2011
Doc on the Bitterroot April 9, 2011
Doc and Terry in April 2009
Anyway, here are some photos of the Bitterroot and Doc. The first two are from this spring. The second two are from 2009 when Terry fished with Doc and Jack.
Terry with his brown trout on the day he was fishing with Doc. Jack is holding it for him.
The Bitterroot River water flow near Darby has tripled in cubic feet per second (cfs). According to Jack, it is one of the fastest “bumps” up he has seen, which is why I say it has jumped up. The rain and warmer temperatures are bringing melted snow into the tributaries.
The Big Hole near Divide, Mont. has also come up from about 400 cfs two days ago to 647 cfs at the time of this writing.
The Clark Fork below Missoula has come up from a little over 3,000 cfs two days ago to 5,510 cfs. Rock Creek near Clinton was at about 250 cfs two days ago and is now 535 cfs.
The Blackfoot River near Bonner was a little over 1,000 cfs two days ago and is now 2,830 cfs.
Jack and I will heading down to the Darby area later today and I will try to get some photos along the way. Needless to say, the fishing won’t be happening.
A trout I caught. Jack is holding the fish and I am, of course,
taking the photo. Freda, our Chessie, is looking on.
After fishing clients all week, Jack was excited enough to take me fishing on Sunday. It was REALLY cold in the morning when we launched. Then it drizzled. I rowed for Jack for awhile while we hunted for pike, but the day picked up about 1:00 pm when it cleared intermittently and warmed up. Then it happened; a beautiful mayfly hatch broke loose and so did the feeding trout (and whitefish!). I had one of my best “catching” days ever, even with my very rusty casting skills.
Here are some photos from that day. There are also eagles, geese, Belted Kingfishers, and of course lots of ducks on the river now, too. The first slideshow is from Jack’s camera and is uploaded to our Picasa site. The second is from my camera and is uploaded to my SmugMug site – more photos of the river and birds.
Dusty and crew came again this spring. They always hit really cool weather. At least it didn’t rain.
This year the crew was Dusty, Don, Gary, Jim and Peter.
I have a few photos from Jack’s camera, a few photos of the river that I took and when I get some others emailed to me, I will include them in the Picasa slideshow.
The group stayed at the Bitterroot River Lodge south of Hamilton, Montana.
Here is the slideshow from our Picasa album on Google.
The spring has been cool, very cool. That is keeping our ample snow-pack in the mountains and the Bitterroot River is not bumping up in cubic feet per second (CFS) very much. But, there are fish to be caught. Here are some photos of John and Jim who fished March 21 and 22. Below their fish are photos of the Bitterroot at Bell Crossing and then at Stevensville Fishing Access Site (FAS). If you dress right, you will have fun and catch some trout.
