Wednesday the 13th of June Geri was working the afternoon to evening shift at thee dialysis center and I decided to travel south into the Bitterroot to check our Burnt Fork Creek that comes out of the eastern side of the valley. I loaded up all my fishing gear and snacks, then headed down to Stevensville, then east on the back country roads in search of some prime fishing area. What I found was mostly posted ‘No Trespassing’ land, and all the way back up into the forest as well. I traveled quite a ways back into the area in my Acura ‘Jeep’ and got as far as the Burnt Fork Creek campground. I could tell this was mainly a horse access area by the ‘hitching posts’ scattered around the camp ground! I did stop at one point going in to drop my hook into to the narrow rushing stream to at least say I DID fish it! I managed to snag my hook into an ajoining pine tree instead, but did retrieve it OK….
I ate my snak at the campground then headed out of the woods. I met a 4 wheel drive truck coming up the narrow road and was able to pull over far enough to pass. The guy stopped and we chatted briefly. He was in a state owned truck with his girl and they were looking for a little lake. He had a detailed forest service map and I discovered he was on the wrong road. He said he had never been up into this area before and I showed him my map and Google Earth shot of the area. We both went on about our way and since it was only noon, I thought I would make it back to Missoula in time to have some lunch with Geri before she left for work. I stopped along hiway 93 near the Bass Creek confluence with the Bitterroot river and found what looked to be a great place on the Bitterroot river to fish, so I ‘suited up’ in my waders and boots THEN decided to check the local fishing regulations for that section of the river to discover this section was a catch and release ONLY area. Yea, I like the sport fishing aspect but was aiming to keep some fish for a fish fry, and this just wouldn’t do! So I left my waders on, got in the car and drove the rest of the way home. I took them off AFTER I got to the house. Geri had already left for work early and so I ordered a pizza, changed the oil in the car and just puttered around the house.
Thursday the 14th was Geri’s day off and I talked her into going fishing with me over near Philipsburg and my favorite stream the Upper Willow Creek. She mentioned that she was interested in fishing but also just accompanying me on this outing. I bought us some breakfast at The Shack Cafe in downtown Missoula. Their food is very good with additional breakfast specials. It is in an old downtown building and very quaint. There is a large skylight in the middle of the dining room and was pleasantly surprised that there were two World War 1 era airplanes hung inside the skylight atrium. Looked to be a German Fokker Triplane chasing a French Nieuport.
After lunch we drove on over towards Philipsburg and after turning off at Drummond we headed south on hiway 1. We stopped briefly at the Ohrmann Museum and Gallery. It is a unique place here in Montana (http://www.ohrmannmuseum.com) as the artist has welded up several interesting pieces of animal art as well as paintings. I will include several photos of his work and recommend you visit his website.
We continued south towards Philipsburg and stopped at the gas station/restaurant/bar to purchase a fishing license for Geri. We then headed west toward Upper Willow Creek. When we got there, she decided she didn’t really want to fish but wanted to accompany me watch me instead. She said that at least her having a license would allow us to keep more fish that ‘we’ caught! The trout were very active and it was lots of fun catching them on dry flies. I had to throw back a beautiful 14 inch cutthroat as it was legal to keep only 10 inch and smaller of this species of fish.
We walked back to the car to pack up about 4 in the afternoon as we wanted to take a scenic route home through the Skalkaho Pass. It was a beautiful drive and we even stopped at a place that looked inviting to fish in Daly Creek on the East side of the pass. I caught one fish there, also on dry flies. We proceeded on over the top of the pass and down the other side. We stopped and took some photos near a waterfall coming down next to the road.
We finally got home around 6:30 and although we had fresh fish in the cooler, we bar-b-qued CHICKEN instead…!!!
Later….
I ate my snak at the campground then headed out of the woods. I met a 4 wheel drive truck coming up the narrow road and was able to pull over far enough to pass. The guy stopped and we chatted briefly. He was in a state owned truck with his girl and they were looking for a little lake. He had a detailed forest service map and I discovered he was on the wrong road. He said he had never been up into this area before and I showed him my map and Google Earth shot of the area. We both went on about our way and since it was only noon, I thought I would make it back to Missoula in time to have some lunch with Geri before she left for work. I stopped along hiway 93 near the Bass Creek confluence with the Bitterroot river and found what looked to be a great place on the Bitterroot river to fish, so I ‘suited up’ in my waders and boots THEN decided to check the local fishing regulations for that section of the river to discover this section was a catch and release ONLY area. Yea, I like the sport fishing aspect but was aiming to keep some fish for a fish fry, and this just wouldn’t do! So I left my waders on, got in the car and drove the rest of the way home. I took them off AFTER I got to the house. Geri had already left for work early and so I ordered a pizza, changed the oil in the car and just puttered around the house.
Thursday the 14th was Geri’s day off and I talked her into going fishing with me over near Philipsburg and my favorite stream the Upper Willow Creek. She mentioned that she was interested in fishing but also just accompanying me on this outing. I bought us some breakfast at The Shack Cafe in downtown Missoula. Their food is very good with additional breakfast specials. It is in an old downtown building and very quaint. There is a large skylight in the middle of the dining room and was pleasantly surprised that there were two World War 1 era airplanes hung inside the skylight atrium. Looked to be a German Fokker Triplane chasing a French Nieuport.
After lunch we drove on over towards Philipsburg and after turning off at Drummond we headed south on hiway 1. We stopped briefly at the Ohrmann Museum and Gallery. It is a unique place here in Montana (http://www.ohrmannmuseum.com) as the artist has welded up several interesting pieces of animal art as well as paintings. I will include several photos of his work and recommend you visit his website.
We continued south towards Philipsburg and stopped at the gas station/restaurant/bar to purchase a fishing license for Geri. We then headed west toward Upper Willow Creek. When we got there, she decided she didn’t really want to fish but wanted to accompany me watch me instead. She said that at least her having a license would allow us to keep more fish that ‘we’ caught! The trout were very active and it was lots of fun catching them on dry flies. I had to throw back a beautiful 14 inch cutthroat as it was legal to keep only 10 inch and smaller of this species of fish.
We walked back to the car to pack up about 4 in the afternoon as we wanted to take a scenic route home through the Skalkaho Pass. It was a beautiful drive and we even stopped at a place that looked inviting to fish in Daly Creek on the East side of the pass. I caught one fish there, also on dry flies. We proceeded on over the top of the pass and down the other side. We stopped and took some photos near a waterfall coming down next to the road.
We finally got home around 6:30 and although we had fresh fish in the cooler, we bar-b-qued CHICKEN instead…!!!
Later….
