Report on the Blackfoot and Rock Creek

Dear David,

I've been home now for one week, and I already long to return to such great places as Rock Creek, The Big Hole, The Blackfoot, to name a few. Our trip began with a 9:00 p.m. departure from Portland.Driving all night proved to be an enjoyable trip as the excitement kept enough adrenaline in my veins, as I could not wait to drop a fly in one the world’s finest rivers.We arrived in Missoula at 7:00 am in time for some breakfast and a visit to the fly shop for tips and licenses.A few hours of auto repair due to a collision with a big buck delayed our departure to the river, much to our dismay.

Our first destination was to be the North Fork of the Blackfoot. Our plan was to go straight to the trailhead and spend a few days fishing the North Fork of the Blackfoot. After about an hour of driving, we could no longer contain ourselves and decided to cut the days driving short and detour into River Junction campground on the Blackfoot River. We fished for about an hour with no luck. The main problem was that the combination of wind and lack of sleep put a damper on our initial excitement. After resting for a while, we ventured out that evening for some more fishing where the two rivers join. My partner pulled in a couple of fat cutthroats, and I landed an average one.It was a slow start to a great week, however.

The next day we packed up and headed straight to the north fork trail head. After about an hour of hiking, we let our excitement get the best of us again, and we stopped for an hour or so of fishing. The fishing was average, and we each landed a few around 10 to 12 inches.After packing up and pushing on, we realized that we had stopped just short of the bridge that you had mentioned.We continued to hike the trail and later broke off to the river about 3/4's of a mile past the bridge.Here we found the fat cutthroats you had told me about. Thanks for the pointer.We fished our way up the river for roughly a mile, and we each landed about 5 nice fat 14 to 16 inch fish. After a while we became weary and headed back to my truck, our accommodations for the week.

We decided to head to Divide, a favorite fishing hole from past trips. After arriving we saw that the mosquitoes were bad, but once we got onto the river, they seemed to let up. Little did we know that they were just resting up to attack once we got out of the water.After an hour or so of fishing, we had a few misses but left with no fish landed. Once again my partner was disappointed, a full day in Montana skunked. When we emerged out off the river, the scene resembled a B-grade Hitchcock movie.I have never seen mosquitoes attack in such large groups. Any thought we had of spending the night here vanished faster than our blood.

The next three days and two nights were spent enjoying our favorite Montana “river”, Rock Creek.During the day we did well catching a couple of fish every hour of so, most of which were average size.But when the sun set, then we really had a ball. I found it strange, as it seemed everyone left the river right before the fishing really got good. We would fish the evening and then at about 8:00 everyone else seemed to pack it up.What we found is that after 8:00 the feeding really started to progress. The trouble was matching the hatch. The first fishing night on Rock Creek we had a little difficulty tricking the real smart fish, but I was eventually able to land a real fatty just as it was becoming too dark to see my Caddis. There were some points where I just figured where the bug was and looked for a strike in that direction. The last hour, before it was pitch black, was our best time to pull in fish.They were striking more and had better size during that time. Like I said, the difficulty was seeing your fly and matching the hatch.

The second night on Rock Creek, and our last night in Montana, was the best fishing of the trip.Once again the feeding really started as the sun dipped lower and lower. We were right on with Caddis Flies and had a great hole that was full of big fish.We basically took turns pulling in fish and taking pictures. When the night was up, we had each landed about five fish, and each of us had landed two that we felt were real beauties about 16 to 18 inches and fat.Most of them were cutthroats, which we found to fight the best.

The next day we resisted the urge to wet any more line and decided instead to leave the night's success as out last memory, as we regretfully headed out of Rock Creek homeward. The trip home always has the excitement of seeing your family, but there

is always the pain of leaving the rivers that seem to flow through your veins, coursing with browns, rainbows and cutthroats.As we neared the border of Idaho, I nearly gave into the urge to pull off and give the rod one last cast before we said goodbye, knowing that it was probably the last opportunity to make use of my license.

Eric Yinger

Thanks for the tips Eric.I can't wait to return next year.I'm already thinking Beaverhead, Bitterroot, and Yellowstone. I'm hoping I'll get a chance to thank you personally for your advice and enjoy some fishing together. Your welcome to post any or all of this report on your site.