Today I headed back to Sluice Box State Park to start where my wife and I left off last week. I decided I wanted to hike the entire 7.5 miles through the park and back, with minimal fishing as to not slow me down. This time, however, I went with a friend who runs marathons, triathlons, and all kinds of other endurance races. Usually I fear my hiking partner will not be able to keep up with me...not today! We arrived at the park around 11:00.
We crossed some sketchy bridges...
Crawled through downed trees...
And passed through solid rock to get to some of the most scenic areas in Montana!
The Belt Creek Canyon is absolutely incredible. The views are outstanding and the fishing is not bad. Today I wanted to see more of the park so I only fished a few deep pools. I started with the elk hair caddis but, as I spotted no risers, I switched to a sculpin (minnow) imitation. The sculpin solicited a few strikes but no hookups. We spotted a number of fish down deep but I packed light with no nymphing gear. After a bit of travel by river we tried to find the trail but after around four or five miles the trail starts to blend into the underbrush. We checked a few spots but couldn't connect.
Just before this point we had to make a decision. My hiking partner Brian decided to try to climbing up to where he believed he would find the trail. I decided to go balls deep in ice cold water and cross. I followed the shoreline until I could cross. I found the trail but Brian was already up in the woods. We eventually reconnected up above the trail and continued on a higher path. That path led us to a rocky outcropping...not our trail. After a little more searching we found the trail but it was pretty overgrown so we decided against continuing. We headed back to the trailhead approximately 1.5 miles from our endpoint. Once we returned to the car we decided to drive to logging creek bridge, the endpoint of the trail. We had to see what the area looked like. After a 30 minute drive on a lousy road we reached the bridge.
At this spot the sluice box formation opened up into the Little Belt Mountains. It's a neat area! We decided to spend a little time here and take a few more casts. We hiked a short ways and passed the fly rod back and forth. Still I hadn't caught a fish. Brian was checking out a little cave so I climbed up to the bridge and dangled a deer hair caddis over the edge. Immediately I got a hit from something little but no connection. After a little more messing around I got a hit from something bigger. I skittered the fly over the same area and the water erupted.
Out of the depths came my first Mountain Whitefish! Most fly fishermen consider these fish undesirable but I am ecstatic! I always enjoy catching a new species. No trout today but it was a good trip. Good company, beautiful scenery, a new species, and I'm gonna sleep well tonight!
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