A Day In The Backcountry

There is always wonderful mystery with native fish in seldom visited places, so I was all in when Joel mentioned leading us into "River X" for day of looking for Westslope Cutthroat. 

With yet another warm blue bird day in the forecast our chances for cutthroats looking up for dry flies was looking excellent as well.

The morning started with a stop at one of Deer Lodge's greasy spoons for a filling breakfast.  Corn beef hash and a couple over easy eggs was tasty and good fuel for a day spent on the move.

The trip to "River X" involved a couple hour drive, preparations at the vehicle, and then a few mile hike into the back country.  Joel warned us that he had a hard time with "gear separation" and the off chance of forgetting something important so we were hardly surprised when he off loaded six or eight different packs and bags from his Jeep into the rental vehicle.  The above Simms Boat Bag was just for his fly boxes.  Joel is serious about his gear.

Making decisions on what flies for the day was easy.  We all took a mix of dry flies and nymphs but were hoping we wouldn't need to go subsurface.
 

Geared up and on the trail for a several mile hike. 

The view from the trail down into the river valley was stunning. 

The water was gin clear and a mix of riffles and deep plunge pools. 

I had carefully loaded up the new Fishpond Tundra Tech pack with the gear needed for the day including wading boots, waders, fly boxes, cameras, two fly rods and fly reels, water bottle, and accessories.  The Tundra Tech pack handled it with ease and was comfortable for the hike as well as while wearing the entire day on the water.  This pack has a lot of features to like.

I ended up fishing the Kabuto 805 all day.  I am really impressed with this fly rod and the sun seems to glow through this blank in the perfect shade of autumn. 

I started with a dry fly/dropper and after a few rises clipped the dropper off since I was having such a great time creeping over rocks, casting a small stimulator fly to the head of the pool, and then have a Westslope Cutthroat rise to my offering.

I approached a large deep pool and saw several trout rising off a rock wall to something small on the surface.  I looked down and saw several dead winged red ants swirling at my feet and figured it was worth a try.  I tied on a winged red ant and cast it against the edge of the rock wall only to have a large Westslope Cutthroat rise up from the bottom of the pool to sip it in.  The Kabuto bent into an amazing arch under the weight of this cutthroat.

After a several minute fight I was able to bring the cutthroat into the shallows.  Without a doubt this was my "Trip Fish".   

I took a few photographs of this fine native trout before he swam back to the depths of the pool.



The rest of the afternoon was more of the same with raising cutthroats on dry flies.  There is hardly anything better.
 


The red ant did it again.  That fly worked for about an hour and then it was back to small caddis type dry flies.


This was stunning water no doubt and the surrounding trees were awash in the colors of fall. 



This river is full of round smooth rocks of dark oranges, reds, grays, and greens creating a beautiful streambed and perfect camoflauge for the trout that live there.   

My regret for the day is that the group of us got really spread out with David spending the entire day on short stretch of water while Joel, Mike, and I hiked up river but really didn't see each other again until I double backed downstream at the end of the afternoon.

Joel fished his Sweetgrass graphite five weight all day which was coupled with a Ross Reels Vision.  A very striking outfit that can certainly fish too.  More than once I saw his fly rod bent over double on a trout. 



Joel and I traded fly rods for a few minutes just to see what each other thought.  The Sweetgrass is a very nice rod and certainly a change from all the glass that I've been fishing. 


With the sun falling behind the mountains it was time to hike back to the vehicles.  We all gave the river one last look from above before hiking down the trail to the vehicle.

On the ride back to Deer Lodge for dinner we all recounted a special fish or two that we had put on the fly. It was a good day for all of us.

Some places just speak to me and "River X" was my favorite day of the trip.  It's on the list of places to return to again and I thank Joel for taking us to such a place of trout filled splendor.