Photo Essay – Montana Backpacking Blitz
- This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Jul 31, 2007 at 6:05 pm by
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Been meaning to get this up all week.
I just returned from 8 days/nights cruising around in Montana’s Great Bear Wilderness. Spend a few days towards the end of the trip on the Middle Fork of the Flathead. Seriously good time.
On the new gear front: I was pretty pleased with this guy that I put together. Its an ultralight (>14oz) fly tying kit. The big find was the vise. The rest is all the materials I own – shoved into small bags. I could produce about 10 of any fly I could tie at home in just about every size that I need.
We hiked into Moose Lake(below), where I caught my first cutt. Don’t have a picture since we had to “wade”/tip toe with our rods above our heads to get out to the side with the fish. This ended up happening a lot so I didn’t end up with a ton of fish pictures.
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Then spent a day or so getting over the next ridge to this valley. The MiddleFork is in there somewhere…
Here was our first glimpse of it. I had been waiting for days to get there. I could have ran to it, but about two and half miles (and 3500 feet of descent) stood in my way.
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We finally got there, and spent about three days fishing in places that all looked like this.
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We also caught a ton of these….
Saw my first golden stone…those things are seriously huge
But was a bit too late for this…
We did see a Grizz (no picture), some elk, and spent some time with this guy below. I’m pretty sure he was waiting for dinner at the end of my fly line.
The cutts in the wilderness section were incredible. What they lacked in size, they made up for in quantity and willingness to demolish dry flies. I didn’t even need the kit. There was no need to match any hatches. The only requirement for flies…they had to float. Looking buggy was a plus, but floating was an absolute necessity. Our longest day on the river produced 35 fish for my buddy (my numbers would have been that high, naturally, but I spent a few hours helping people out with casting). It was absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to go back.
On the new gear front: I was pretty pleased with this guy that I put together. Its an ultralight (>14oz) fly tying kit. The big find was the vise. The rest is all the materials I own – shoved into small bags. I could produce about 10 of any fly I could tie at home in just about every size that I need.
Andrew
Which Vise did you get?
Oh by the way, Great photos.I think your right about the eagle.. There was (is) a huge golden eagle where I like to fish lately… About 10 days ago when i first saw him he stood on the bank and didnt leave that spot and screached looking strait at me.. I thought it was wounded and almost gave him a fish… Finally i saw him about 10 feet up on a tree branch.. I almost called the fish wildlife and parks and told them they had a wonded eagle up there(until he got up on the tree branch)… thats not too smart of the eagle. They can easily get poached that way…
Great post Andrew! I love the pictures! I am seriously jealous about your trip! I am in dire need of a backpacking fishing trip right now! Unfortunately, I must live through guys like yourself….thanks for sharing.
Joel
Stupid question: Why bring a tying kit on a trip like this? Why not just tied some up ahead?
Nah, thats not a stupid question at all.
5500 cui is a nice nice for a week long pack. I think bigger is better myself. The key is to not fill it up with stuff you don’t need just because you have the room! 😉 The main reason I like a bigger pack is you have the ability to get to stuff more easily with out having to completely unload you pack and then repack it.
Just my two cents.
Joel
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