Trip Report: Down The Valley Swan

Today the wife and I traveled down the Swan with the intention of hiking to a waterfall a few miles by snowy trail into the Flathead Nat'l Forrest. We figured the trail would be closed and it was, so we stopped at a few spots and took photos of the mountains. The Swan Valley sits between the jagged Mission Mountains and the dramatic Swan Range which give life to the Swan River which flows through the valley. 

 I've heard that these ranges both have some great alpine lake fishing! It will only be a short matter of time before I find out for myself. When we checked the road to the trailhead we spotted some deer.

And some Elk! We turned around after 1 mile on the 3 mile road to the trailhead due to snow and rutting.

These roads were probably pretty treacherous a few weeks ago. After the drive I went to the Flathead River to try my luck with the fly. I hoped to see some early caddis but all I found were bwo's, midges, and small stoneflies. I saw a lot of fish rising so I tied on the caddis to test the cutthroats reputation of being easy prey. 

 

I caught around a dozen of these green backed little guys and a few bigger ones, but none of note. It was just nice to get out fishin' in some nice weather.

Trip Report: White Fishin'

Yesterday I got out for a few hours in the afternoon to try my luck on the mighty Flathead River. I brought both spinning and fly gear, deciding on which to utilize dependent on whether fish were rising. I immediately found a school of small whitefish rising for tiny midges. I only had zebra midges with me so I tied one on and set it deep. While gearing up a helicopter came flying down the river corridor.

 I hope everything is ok!

These are the type of spots you need to key in on when fishing from shore on such a huge body of water. You look for the same type features on small streams, but on larger rivers they appear proportionately larger.

This guy fell for the Rainbow Warrior.

This bug eyed little fella fell for a red flash trout candy zebra midge. I did hook into one trout but he shook loose after a short battle. Final score 15 whitefish 0 trout.

With temperatures rising and the fishing season closing in expect more frequent reports.

Trip Report: Finally, A Little Fishing

Today's temps reached up to near 50 degrees and I had few plans. The conditions were perfect for me to go fishing! After hibernating for most of the winter, tying flies and selling stuff on Ebay, I decided to use the spinning rod. I never have much luck in big rivers or in winter so I hopped this would increase my odds. I arrived at the Middle Fork of the Flathead River shortly after 1:00 and began working upstream. 

Today was beautifully sunny but a little on the windy side. I rounded the first bend hoping for respite from the wind, but winds snaked down the river corridor consistently. I wasn't going to last long without catching a fish.

 Luckily, this guy came to hand pretty quick! He hit the generic super duper at around 5 feet deep. I hoisted him for a quick picture and after one snap my camera died, so I quickly released him. As he swam away I admired his green, spotted back. He was the only fish of the day and after about 1.5 hrs I headed home.

Next weekend should see temps in the mid 50's so I'll be back at it soon!