Montana

We packed up the next morning and I was still on a quest to find a new net.  We stopped at Blackfoot River Outfitters. Although they didn’t have the net I wanted, we did pick up some flies, local knowledge, and set off towards Rock Creek.

We headed out on 90 east and took the exit for 102. We proceeded to rattle down a little dirt road for a few miles, past some constructions workers and came to point where the road sign advised against campers and trailers continuing. We heeded the advice, turned around and rattled back past the same construction workers.  We redirected and took the long way around to the upper part of Rock Creek near Philipsburg.

We stopped for a break at Lake Georgetown and ran into two fish and game rangers at the boat ramp. They had just pulled in their gill nets and were assessing the population and health of the fish. Over the course of our travels, we found the rangers always know the best spots. After asking some questions about the study they were conducting, we of course asked about their favorite spots to fish and recommendations on campsites. They let us know that the trout had been hanging around by the Piney Campground on the other side of the lake. We could camp and fish from shore with a reasonable chance of catching some rainbows.

We drove over the dam and found a camp spot on the lake. There was a light rain and the wind was starting to pick up, but I wanted to get in some fishing before dark. I started wading from the north side of the campground about a half a mile towards an outcropping with fallen trees at the south-end.  Although I did not get one bite to this point, I was determined.  As I cast out next to the submerged trees, I quickly had two Rainbow trout.  I know some people never keep the trout they catch.  I always release beautiful native trout in streams and rivers.  However, I do eat fish and the two stocked Rainbows from the lake were destined for the BBQ that night.

Spillway Campground:

We knew the main branch of Rock Creek would be blown out from the previous day, so we decided to check out the East Fork of Rock Creek which comes out of the East Fork Reservoir. The East Fork was low and clear, with the water still being held to increase the foot acres in the reservoir. We decided to stay at the Spillway Campground and try our luck at lake fishing again.  It was a small, quiet campground with only one other camper.

The next morning, we stopped at a few spots below the dam so Meg could enjoy her coffee. While it was beautiful, the public areas didn’t have access to the deeper holes we didn’t have time to hike this day.

Net Update:

I finally found the net at Stonefly Fly Shop in Butte.

For those of you who don’t fish, you probably don’t care about the net.  For those of you who do fish, the majority of you may not care either and that’s okay.  Back to the net… I already had a perfectly good net.  However, the Fishpond vest is designed to carry a Fishpond net and my old net kept falling out when wading.  I’m not suggesting it’s a net conspiracy theory (maybe), but if you want to properly carry a net with that vest, you’re gonna’ need to pony up the money and buy their net.  Basically, it’s a great excuse for me to purchase more expensive fishing gear guilt-free due to the design and I’m perfectly fine with that fact.

As a bonus, it gives you the ability to hang your vest and your net together at the campsite after returning from the river and that’s something all fishermen care about.

Ruby Lake and Ruby River:

The first fly shop I visited in Billings mentioned the Ruby River. We drove through Virginia and Junction Cities which were gold mining towns on our way to the Ruby River. Ironically, rubies don’t exist in the Ruby River.  However, you can find Garnets and Sapphires.

On our way, we stopped at a couple of the fishing access areas and below the dam. There is excellent access and a path that follows the river from the dam downstream. We fished below the dam for a while, but it was crowded and there was water being released out of two areas of the dam: one higher and one lower. This made for an interesting mix of muddy water coming out of one section of the dam and clear water coming out of the other.

We decided to stay on BLM land at the lake and boondock for the night. Since it was a weekend, there were already quite a few campers and the prime spots looked like they had been occupied for several days. We picked a spot higher on the hill with a good view of the lake.

The next morning we decided to try the Vigilante fishing access area.  There is a trail that follows the river for a couple of miles. As we were putting on our waders, a caravan of 15 cars pulled into the parking lot. I thought for sure this was the end of the fishing at this spot. Turns out this is the last point with a public restroom before Ruby Reservoir and they were going rockhounding for the day. They were heading up to screen for garnets, but with the reservoir and river so high, and rain approaching, I don’t think they had high hopes.

Wade and Cliff Lakes:

One of the reasons we decided to fish this area was because Wade Lake held the Montana state record Brown Trout at 29lbs from 1966 until it was broken in 2021. 

The road into the area is dirt and clay.  It’s a little bumpy at times, but nothing a Subaru couldn’t handle.  There are three campgrounds available.  I would recommend the one at Cliff because it’s on the water with a reasonable slope to comfortably camp.  The terrain at Wade is extremely steep and you really don’t get to take advantage of the lake from your camping area.  You’ll definitely need reservations at either lake.  We stayed at Hilltop, which is exactly where you would think: on top of the hill between both lakes.  It was adequate, but didn’t provide any views from the camp area.

While flyfishing at Cliff Lake, Meg and I met another couple who fished as well.  He was originally from New Zealand.  Meg and I have both spent a considerable amount of time there, so we had a lot in common to discuss.  They knew we were touring Montana for a least a month or so and invited us to fish at a hike-in lake they frequent.  We exchanged numbers and we will definitely call to join them to fish in July.

After our visit to the lakes, it was time to take Meg back to Bozeman to catch her flight home later that afternoon. 

After dropping Meg off at the airport, I immediately returned to Holter dam hoping for the best.

1^st trip to Holter:

After dropping Meg off at the airport:

The water wasn’t subsiding, it was increasing, and a day and a half of rain didn’t help my cause.  There’s a dam alarm (not damn) that sounds every time they release additional water to alert the fishermen wading and the people launching their drift boats.  It went off every two hours for the remainder of my stay.  Time to move on…

Spoiler alert…  The next post involves Idaho and great fishing…