Jay Evans donated a bass fishing trip to Bitterroot Trout Unlimited. Doug Nation and Jack Mauer “bit” on the trip. Jay, Doug and Jack fished the Noxon Reservoir on the Clark Fork River in early May of this year. The water temperatures were in the mid 50 degree range and the water was clear (no big run-off yet). Both smallmouth and largemouth bass were well into the pre-spawn stage. A few weeks earlier Jay and a friend caught about 40 bass staging on main lake points (mostly 2-3 lb males, both small and large mouth) and saw a few big females starting to move up shallow (4-5 lb smallmouth and a 6 lb largemouth). The larger fish were very spooky and would not bite and according to Jay this is often the case when they first come up to the shallows.
Jay also spotted a couple areas with a bunch of 15-25 lb pike. It would be fun to fish for them with a fly rod! But that didn’t happen on this trip.
Jack visited his mother and sister last week and had the opportunity to fish with Kyle on the James River. Visit Kyle’s website to see more about him, his rivers and his fishing outfitting business. If you don’t know about longboats, give Kyle a call. Jack really enjoyed his day. Check out www.longboatoutfitters.com and you will see why; professional, knowledgeable, experienced, organized and the list goes on. Jack, as an outfitter himself, sets high standards and he thinks very highly of Kyle. Thanks! and we hope to see you up here one of these days!
Jack fished the Missouri recently and spent a little time in the Headhunters Fly Shop. He enjoyed the owners, Mark Raisler and John Arnold, the staff and all the shop had to offer.
The Bitterroot River was up due to run-off so they fished the Big Hole for a few days and then went over to the Missouri. It pays to be flexible. Beautiful scenery, great food in Wise River at the Wise River Club, nice lodging and food in Craig Montana and they caught fish. Not too many photos were taken but you get the idea.
Jack guided with the raft on the Big Hole and drift boat on the Missouri to optimize where they could catch fish. He hadn’t seen Phil in quite a few years and has always enjoyed fishing and spending time with him. It was a pleasure to see him again and meet his good friend Mike (pictured to the left in a photo from Phil’s iphone).
See a few more photos from Jack’s camera in the slideshow below.
