Yesterday Jack came home all excited about the Bitterroot again. The water temperatures are dropping (between 50-52 degrees), the cool nights, fall days and waning moon seem to help – the fishing is really turning on in the afternoons.
He was fortunate to have two of his favorite people to fish with. Doc Bolton lives in California but has come to Montana for years and now has a small homestead near the Bitterroot River. Terry Nobles is long standing Bitterroot resident and Marine veteran, the best of the best in our opinion. Both gentlemen are avid trout fishermen and Trout Unlimited supporters. You will see us all at the Bitter Root TU Banquet this Friday, September 26.
Doc Bolton also wrote a story called Bitterroot Morning about Doc and Terry fishing with Jack.
Click the hotlink, Bitterroot Morning, to check it out and see a couple more
photos.
Above is a photo of Doc with his fish of the day. We didn’t get a photo of Terry yesterday, but to the right is one from my files. He fishes all year but we seem to get most of the photos of him and his fish in the fall like this one.
Yesterday, Jack fished the Blackfoot again. Well, I cleaned my desk in the afternoon and found the camera card. No photos on that beautiful day with Jerry and Debra O’Connell.
The day before, he and John Hickman floated the Bitterroot River on the stretch from Bell Crossing to Stevensville. The sun was bright and the trout are very well educated because it is a popular piece of water – easy access and not too long a float. During a trico hatch they caught some beautiful fish. Here is a photo of John Hickman with a brown trout.
Today is a day of rest for Jack. Now that this is posted, we are off for a fitness hike to the south of Sweathouse Canyon. Maybe I will take some photos there!
Today Jack is on the Blackfoot. Fishing can become a chore when you do it every day, all day, but the Blackfoot with its faster flows, boulders, and intricate runs still gets Jack excited. More on the Blackfoot in a day or two after his trips with clients.
About this blog, the lower Bitterroot. In contrast with the Blackfoot, it is a big wide section of river, but slower and in many places much shallower. That makes for flat water, more rowing and during a full moon, very picky trout!
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| From 2008 09.14 lower Bitterroot River |
Jack had yesterday off and in a generous gesture, he took me on a float fairly close to home. One of the reasons he wanted to do this stretch was to research the northern pike that thrive there. 
Pike are a predatory fish and a highly prized game fish. They are not native to the Bitterroot and prey on all other species of invertebrates. That being said, they can get very big and very fun to catch and we are interested in catching them. Let me tell you, we found them, but didn’t do so well in the catching of them. We have much to learn in that area, but are willing. When we catch them, we will not be putting them back. Click this northern pike hotlink to see why.
I took quite a few photos in between catching a few finicky trout. Hold your cursor over the arrow and click to speed it up. See the slide show or “view album” to see all the photos. To see the rising trout and details on other photos, it is best to view the slide show in full screen in a speed that will load the photos, but move along fairly quickly – a speed of at somewhere around 4 seconds per photo.
If the links don’t open when you click them, right click and choose “open in new window.”
Yesterday was a beautiful day on the Bitterroot. We had too much fun to be taking many photos but I did snap two. Here they are.
I am posting a slide show of all the photos. Click on the slideshow or “View Album” link below to see them or download them.
