Montana early June?

[J Castwell]

They were a sponsor on here once, but if I recommended them someone would have said that I only did that because they had been a sponsor. Rock Creek is a good stream, but I am not on it now, so I have no idea.

[Al Beatty]

Hi crook33,

You've already gotten several very good answers. I'll add a couple of others.

As you travel Hwy 90 to Spokane try the following:
1. Clark Fork and St. Regis Rivers near St. Regis/Superior, MT before going over the mountains into Idaho.
2. Coeur d'Alene River/Lake in Idaho.
3. Spokane River from Coeur d'Alene on into Spokane.
All of these options can be very good/bad based on spring run-off. This year may be fairly high water at the first of June.
Tight Lines - Al Beatty [url=http://www.btsflyfishing.com:58ca3]www.btsflyfishing.com[/url:58ca3]

[RonMT]

Well I live here on the Yellowstone and have for about 40 years. Do I count LOL

The spring creeks are fishing and if you hit them on an over cast day you can do very well on Baetis. (I did well) You can catch a few fish on midges to. Look for caddis on the lower end of Depuy's. The mothers day caddis was not real good this year as it was blown out do to run off. The river is high, muddy and wild right now. There are also a couple of spring creeks in Bozeman that you could fish. Just contact any of the local fly shop's and they can get you information on them.
If it were me and I wanted to fish I would be looking to fish one of the spring creeks for a day and then head to the Missouri at Wulf Creek for a few days. A friend who lives here and has a tariler up there just told me it is fishing well. The Madison below the lakes which usually fishes this time of year is out at the last report I herd as they are letting water out of the dam big time. Gallitan is history until about the first of July as are the rest of the streams in this area. I always figured in a normal year that the rivers were fishable about the 12th of July. May be a little sooner this year as we started run off a little early but not to much.
Yellowstone Park is a total loss right now just talked to one of the rangers that came in the local fly shop with the new park Licenses. He told me that all the rivers are out right now. Anything but what I gave you is nothing but a guess as to if it is fishable or not. The only other places that you might fish are some of the lakes.
As for the west slope and beyond I have no idea? But the places I gave you to fish are sure shot's. Ron


[This message has been edited by RonMT (edited 25 May 2006).]

[crook33]

Thank you all for your input.
JC i'm sorry this thread seemed to cause a problem but there is bound to be some strong opinions when it comes to this subject. I will take the information and appreciate it. I didn't expect to be able to set my watch by anything only to get ideas. I surely had wanted to try at least one of the spring creeks anyway and didn't know about "reservations". So thanks again everyone and i will be sure to enquire locally when i'm actually in the area. Can't wait to get upthere now !! Rich

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"Wishn I wuz Fishn"

[Pisces by Birth]

If you cannot get onto the spring creeks, another option is the head of the Clark Fork in Warm Springs. The view is a disaster, the river is small, and probably crowded, but there are some very big fish in there. It is also about 30 seconds from the exit, if you are anything like me, when I am driving, I do not like to take long detours, and this would fit the bill. If you have a whole day to fish, and are not looking to wet a line while driving home, then I would disregard this suggestion.

[MarkKillam]

I for one will agree with Ron. I was in the Park while driving thru last weekend, and the rivers were blown out. The Gallatin and Yellowsotne are without doubt unfishable now. I was at Hebgen Tuesday but since I came by way of West Yellowstone, I didnt look at the Madison below the dam. A week ago, the Madison below Cabin Creek was very very brown, kinda cool to see where the separation between clean water and muddy water was. I would be willing to bet it hasnt changed. At that point below Quake the Madison was muddy, but very marginally fishable.

I will make one final suggestion which unless I missed it, wasnt mentioned. Try stillwaters. Hebgen is fishable though I had a very frustrating day there Tuesday, Hyalite Reservoir, is another posssibitly though I prefer later in the summer. AS for how some of the other lower elevation lakes are fishing, you might want to contact some local fly shops. And I will agree with other's suggestions about spring creeks (which I dont fish very often). Those are my opinions, dont fish the MO or the Big Horn since I live breathe and die for alpine lakes once the runoff starts.

In any event, there is good fishing to be found in MT despite the runoff we are currently having.

Ahhh well wasnt going to post to this thread since pretty much everything had been covered, but just for ***** and giggles I decided to pipe up....for what its worth (or more probably not worth LOL).

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Take care everyone and cya around. Mark

Edit....ahhh well its off to play in 3 feet of snow on the trail to get to a lake that holds 5 pound yellowstone cutts this weekend. Ought to be a real adventure, since I made it 1/2 way there last weekend on snowshoes. I am very confident the lake just iced out since another lake in the region was breaking up Saturday. No matter what, it will be fun...rain, snow and wind is the forecast for mthe Beartooths....wooooohooooo a typical Memorial Day Weekend trip in the Beartooths for me ROFL. These early season trips can give me an idea of what to expect later in the summer.

I will let everyone know what I see as far as snowpack goes and what to expect as far as runoff also when I get back.

[This message has been edited by MarkKillam (edited 25 May 2006).]

[J Castwell]

You better get some pictures! Sounds likea great adventure,,, go for it. See you in Idaho,,

[Snakeroll]

Crook33,
Just to let you know that the firehole has cleared up since last week, dove by yesterday. I agree with benjo give rock creek a try

[crook33]

Ok, i'm in on Armstrong on the 9th!! I'm so excited i may not sleep for the week before i leave. Any one fished it sans guide and can lend a few tips ? I'm all ears.... and (grins). Thanks again everybody. Rich

[jeffw]

Crook33,

I see that Al mentioned the Spokane River from the Idaho Stateline to the dam at upriver. I drive over it every day and it is wild right now. The kayakers are having a blast, but the river is blown for fishing and probably will be until near the end of June. The run-off is exceptional this year. This is a tailwater fishery, but the pool in Lake Coeur d'Alene is full so over it goes!!

Jeff