North Branch Flathead..end July - 1st week Aug..

[flyfishfairwx]

Does anybody in the FAOL family have information on this area.

Mostly maps, weather, places to avoid..

I am going for a solo ( as of now) trip well Fischer will be with me..

Week + trip, for walk and wade, right up to the Boarder if I can.. if not as high as I can...

PMs' or this means is OK...

[luckie88]

Good luck with runoff this time of year, and careful around Whitefish that place is alot of fun and you may get stuck in the party. LOL When I was up there last the water was way too high to fish so we went back down South to some "Smaller" Creeks like Rock Creek. However, we did fish it for a couple hours and stuck a few cutties and bows even one bull. Here's a little beta I pulled up:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead/fis...head_river.htm

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/?site_no=12355500

Check out this new cool weather site too just found it really interesting:

http://weatherspark.com/#!graphs;a=USA/MT/Whitefish

PS They prefer North Fork

[flyfishfairwx]

Excellent..thank you for the info Luckie88...

[ScottP]

I've only fished the North Fork a few times, never up as far as Polebridge (don't think I ever got more than 20-25 miles north of Columbia Falls). Very pretty water and country, lots of cutts, whitefish and some bows; uesd to be known for it's bull trout fishery and they're still in there but habitat degradation (logging) has hurt that fishery. Got a few nice fish over the years but the majority were small (I usually only fish dries so that may explain results - there are some big holes in there that I'm sure have larger fish). With the snowpack this year, I'd imagine runoff will be done but the river would still be "up", so exercise caution when wading, it's a pretty strong piece of water. Serious grizzly country so if you're camping be very bear aware. Columbia Falls used to be a bit of a hole but they've cleaned their act up; if you do go up the North Fork Rd, the Mercantile in Polebridge is supposed to have a pretty good bakery so you may want to check that out. BTW, if you stop in Whitefish, have a burger at the Bulldog or a piece of pie from Lula's. You might want to get in touch with some of the local flyshops for conditions - Lakestream, Stumptown Anglers, Sportsman Skihaus (Whitefish), Arends (Columbia Falls).

Regards,
Scott

[flyfishfairwx]

Thanks Scott more good info...

Bear Aware is something I am very aware off,, last year was 5 Grizz and 8 Blacks..

A Thought - do you think the Grizzlies know about the bakery and that is why they are so forward in that area? I was wondering about connection between a bakery up there and the Grizz's..

I've only fished the North Fork a few times, never up as far as Polebridge (don't think I ever got more than 20-25 miles north of Columbia Falls). Very pretty water and country, lots of cutts, whitefish and some bows; uesd to be known for it's bull trout fishery and they're still in there but habitat degradation (logging) has hurt that fishery. Got a few nice fish over the years but the majority were small (I usually only fish dries so that may explain results - there are some big holes in there that I'm sure have larger fish). With the snowpack this year, I'd imagine runoff will be done but the river would still be "up", so exercise caution when wading, it's a pretty strong piece of water. Serious grizzly country so if you're camping be very bear aware. Columbia Falls used to be a bit of a hole but they've cleaned their act up; if you do go up the North Fork Rd, the Mercantile in Polebridge is supposed to have a pretty good bakery so you may want to check that out. BTW, if you stop in Whitefish, have a burger at the Bulldog or a piece of pie from Lula's. You might want to get in touch with some of the local flyshops for conditions - Lakestream, Stumptown Anglers, Sportsman Skihaus (Whitefish), Arends (Columbia Falls).

Regards,
Scott

[luckie88]

I remember that bakery they have really good Bear Claws there! (connection found) Oh, there is a pizza joint in Whitefish that is AWESOME. Oh ya the "Great Northern" Bar downtown will hit you like a train with the 1$ Bloody Marys in the morning! Watch your back!

[ScottP]

A Thought - do you think the Grizzlies know about the bakery and that is why they are so forward in that area? I was wondering about connection between a bakery up there and the Grizz's..

I believe cholesterol levels in bears in that area are well above the norm; whether that is from bears eating pastry or bears eating pastry-laden hikers is unknown.

Regards,
Scott