Eight fellows from T. Hargroves fly shop headed out West for six days of fly fishing. Three drove out to Craig, Montana while the rest flew into Cody and drove up to Craig. Rental cars were at a premium ($2000 a week for a small SUV) as was lodging. We had secured our housing at the beginning of the year and used locations from 2020. COVID still effects many aspects of a trip. A multitude of restaurants and stores were not open due to lack of staff to operate.
Smoke from fires was present everywhere we went. Depending upon the wind direction, some days were worse than others with the mountains being completely obscured. Most days we encountered temps in the 90s but the combination of high clouds and smoke kept the heat of the sun at bay.
First days we fished the Missouri river out of Craig, Montana. This is a big wide river that has an abundance of food for the fish. Trout up here grow big fast. 18-20 inch fish are really the norm so faster action six weight rods are used. If the wind kicks up, a 7 wt. comes in mighty handy. I carry both when fishing out West. Hoot Owl restrictions were in place on this section of the Missouri so our day began at 6am and we were off the water by 2 pm. We floated (with guides) from Holten dam and nymphed our way into several big Rainbows. These big fish take the smallest midges. #18 black zebra midges were the hot fly and keeping a heavy 18-20 inch Rainbow hooked up is a challenge. Boating one of these fish on such small flies is a real victory.
Above Holten dam is the reservoir and Hauser Dam. No Hoot Owl restrictions on this section of the Missouri. One day, my boat mate and I headed up this area of the Missouri in a Jet Boat and fished the upper canyon. Temps were much cooler in the canyon and the wind direction kept the smoke away. Scenery was absolutely awesome. The canyon walls towered 1500-2000 ft. above us. Nymphing was again the order of the day and once again big fish on little midges challenged us to boat these beasts. The water while clear, was full of underwater greenery and the fish, when hooked, would take off up stream or dive into this jungle of plants.
We enjoyed three days of fishing this location and then took the fourth day to drive to Cody, Wyoming. One route to Cody was over the Bear Tooth mountains. A more awe inspiring drive you could not ask for. This is Grizzly Bear county and signs everywhere warn of the dangers. The road thru the pass is a series of switch backs that climb to an altitude of 11,000 ft. There was still some snow and Ice up in these areas of the mountains. We went from 88 degrees when we started (at 6000 ft) and ended up at 56 degrees at the summit. The Harley riders were in force heading to Strugis, SD.
In Cody, the upper stretches of the Shoshone river were too skinny to float due to the high temps and low snow fall over the Winter. Our next three days saw our group float the lower Shoshone river below the dam (Tailwater) as well as traveling to the Big Hole river at Thermopolis. First day on the Big Hole we were greeted with overcast skys, cooler temps, and a chance of rain. All of that came to fruition but the rain also added pea sized hail. What an adventure! We boated many large Browns, Rainbows, and Cutthroat trout on Midges as well as Hopper/Dropper rigs. How exciting is it to have a 22 inch Brown trout crush your hopper! The water just explodes when a fish that size aggressively goes after a big dry fly.
Floats on the Shoshone are in rafts as the river on all stretches has numerous rapids that are not drift boat friendly. Heading down into a rapid with large boulders churning up white water is pretty exciting. Your gonna get wet!
Our last day on the Big Hole, the sky was clear and the sun was hot (97 degrees). Sun screen and plenty of cold water were the order of the day. At lunch, several fellows just got out of the boats and jumped into the river to cool down. Just before the take-out, one of our group hooked into a big Rainbow that took him to his backing. The fish shot out like a cannon and stripped line off the reel at warp speed. Two jumps and it was gone. It straightened the hook on the Prince Nymph and left us with a story about the one that got away!
I highly recommend fishing out in Montana and Wyoming. They raise some big aggressive fish out there that are fun to pursue.
Bob Beckett
