Dutchy going to fish; Colorado or Montana?

[eddy4]

What would you do? Two weeks of fishing; Colorado or Montana??

Quick introduction; I am usually on the Uk forum. I’m from Holland and a fanatic fly fisher, and planning a trip to the promised land ; Facebook Henrico Soede / Instagram; riverjedi.

I’m looking for a diy trip after the runoff this spring. Goal; fish a couple of famous rivers, mostly wading, dependable hatches, camping, no guides, brown trout, and some more secluded rivers who need a bit of a hike or I would fancy a DIY packraft trip for a week on a quiet stretch of river like the Flathead:

Packrafting Montana's Wild Flathead River

What would be your choice? Any suggestion would be welcome! Thanks!

 

[Poke 'Em]

You'll find the Flathead isn't near as quiet as you'd think, especially in the wilderness portion.

 

[0bie]

If you're interested in a DIY trip I'd definitely recommend Montana, as it has more liberal stream access laws than Colorado. If you're looking for brown trout the southwest corner of the state has many of the big-name streams (Big Hole, Ruby, Jefferson), as well as numerous smaller streams with browns, brook trout, rainbows, a few cutthroat and a few grayling. The Missouri River tailwaters are excellent brown trout fisheries, as well.

The Flathead is a really nice system for rainbows and native cutthroat. It's also home to bull trout, a native fish-eating charr species, as well as some pike and smallmouth bass. Definitely worth a visit, but I can't remember if there are many, if any, brown trout fisheries within the watershed. I was able to find this tool on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website. You can plug in a location or a region and it'll spit out the lakes and streams you can fish, along with maps and species present within that water body.

Wherever you decide, good luck with your trip!

 

[sdtrout]

I second the vote for Montana, particularly the western part of the state. Lots of water that's relatively easy to get to and fairly close together. You won't have to spend a great deal of time driving from stream to stream. Big name rivers like the Madison, Missouri, Gallatin, etc. plus many lesser known waters to explore.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[fredaevans]

:welcomean You'll recognize my log in name from the 'Mother Board.'

+3 for SW (or just Western) Montana. Only thing to keep in mind is Montana is BIG, LIKE REALLY BIG, with darned few developed towns/cities so keep your Petrol tank full! You could easily go 100 miles between places to fill up the tank.

And that was on I-90, the major freeway that runs from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic! 'Almost' found out the 'hard way' on my first trip .... 14.9 gallons in a 15 gallon tank. I actually was taking the Jeep out of gear and rolling down hills to conserve fuel. :secret: Illegal as heck!

For monitering water flows here's the web site you want to watch for Montana. If it 'flows' odds on there is at least one guage and the info is usually updated every 30 minutes so you're looking at 'real time.'
USGS Current Conditions for Montana_ Streamflow

An another excellent reference, vis a vis access, is Google Earth. Pick your area and you can follow the stream, road locations, etc.:thumbsupu

As an aside you'll recognize several of the log in names from the 'Mother Board' who post here with some regularity.

As far as 'fly/gear' selection ..... what works on your side of the Pond works well here. There are 'local patterns' so a few of those would be a good purchase. Last thought .... with your 'accent' expect to be treated to a lot of free beers. This will sound silly but the majority of American's rarily go more than 50 miles from their front door.

Fred Evans

 

[mcnerney]

You can't go wrong with Montana, that would make an incredible vacation, but Colorado has some truly awesome water as well. If your into relatively good shape you could hike into the Gunnison Gorge, it is a steep tough climb but well worth the reward for your efforts. If that might be of interest, I can send you some links with more information.

Edit: Here is a thread with links to the current status of the winter snow pack, that will give you an idea of what spring run off might be like:
http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...ntain-snow-pack-conditions-dec-12-2015-a.html

 

[sdtrout]

I didn't mean to sell Colorado short. Some excellent opportunities there as well. As Fred said (hey, that rhymes) Montana is a BIG place.

That being said, last summer another guy and I spent a week in the Bozeman, West Yellowstone area of Montana and during one stretch fished 4 rivers in 5 days (fished one river twice) and never felt we spent more time driving than fishing.

 

[fredaevans]

I didn't mean to sell Colorado short. Some excellent opportunities there as well. As Fred said (hey, that rhymes) Montana is a BIG place.

That being said, last summer another guy and I spent a week in the Bozeman, West Yellowstone area of Montana and during one stretch fished 4 rivers in 5 days (fished one river twice) and never felt we spent more time driving than fishing.

Excellent thought. Sooooo many choices so don't spread yourself 'thin' sitting behind a steering wheel. Pick a few and concentrate on those.

fae

 

[bobk627]

You could easily go 100 miles between places to fill up the tank

since fred was last here in the 1950s its much better :icon_surp

 

[CutThroat Leaders]

The flathead “backcountry” can be a great experience, but no browns, not huge numbers of very large fish, (other than Bull trout), but what the fish lack in size, they make up for in eagerness to take a dry and the scenery can be spectacular. It been over ten years since I have been, so it might be more crowded now…?

Southwest Montana offers what most people think of when they think Montana fishing. But be ready to see lots of fellow fly fishers as well. Do you only have one week to get everything in? Best of luck on your trip choice as well as the actual fishing adventure. Looking forward to seeing pics of the trip.

 

[Ard]

You'll love Montana!

If I were you I'd become active here to see if you can develop some local contacts there. I've fished many far off places and can tell you that there are 2 kinds of fun when doing this. One is discovery, the second is to meet up with a local resident who already did the discovery part.

Enjoy,

Ard

 

[rocketbomb]

I have a preference for Montana myself. Never fished any of the rivers there, but strap on a backpack and go to the backcountry lakes and you will get big scenery and an experience that makes up for fish that are usually not as big.

 

[mcnerney]

Here is a thread on "Planning a Trip to Montana" that you might find interesting to read through:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...366906-planning-fly-fishing-trip-montana.html

Here is another thread on Montana's public access points:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...30-montana-public-access-points-listings.html

 

[cab]

I'm a Colorado resident and have never fished Montana.

That said, I'll postulate: Colorado has all the fishing Montana offers, just more people. YMMV

HTH,
CAB

 

[eddy4]

You'll find the Flathead isn't near as quiet as you'd think, especially in the wilderness portion.

Lots of fishers or lots of ' normal' people ?

---------- Post added at 04:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 AM ----------

If you're interested in a DIY trip I'd definitely recommend Montana, as it has more liberal stream access laws than Colorado. If you're looking for brown trout the southwest corner of the state has many of the big-name streams (Big Hole, Ruby, Jefferson), as well as numerous smaller streams with browns, brook trout, rainbows, a few cutthroat and a few grayling. The Missouri River tailwaters are excellent brown trout fisheries, as well.

The Flathead is a really nice system for rainbows and native cutthroat. It's also home to bull trout, a native fish-eating charr species, as well as some pike and smallmouth bass. Definitely worth a visit, but I can't remember if there are many, if any, brown trout fisheries within the watershed. I was able to find this tool on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website. You can plug in a location or a region and it'll spit out the lakes and streams you can fish, along with maps and species present within that water body.

Wherever you decide, good luck with your trip!

Thanks, i wil have a look into the tool, so the southwest is in some ways the best. I it possible to find the some less traveled/ fished streams?

---------- Post added at 05:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:40 AM ----------

The flathead “backcountry” can be a great experience, but no browns, not huge numbers of very large fish, (other than Bull trout), but what the fish lack in size, they make up for in eagerness to take a dry and the scenery can be spectacular. It been over ten years since I have been, so it might be more crowded now…?

Southwest Montana offers what most people think of when they think Montana fishing. But be ready to see lots of fellow fly fishers as well. Do you only have one week to get everything in? Best of luck on your trip choice as well as the actual fishing adventure. Looking forward to seeing pics of the trip.

It is gonna be two weeks , maybe i will extend it with a week !

---------- Post added at 05:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 AM ----------

I have a preference for Montana myself. Never fished any of the rivers there, but strap on a backpack and go to the backcountry lakes and you will get big scenery and an experience that makes up for fish that are usually not as big.

That looks awesome! I will have a look into the lakes aswel !

---------- Post added at 05:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 AM ----------

Here is a thread on "Planning a Trip to Montana" that you might find interesting to read through:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...366906-planning-fly-fishing-trip-montana.html

Here is another thread on Montana's public access points:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...30-montana-public-access-points-listings.html

Thank you all for the help! It is verry useful! Great to see ! I will start looking into all the great info ! I' m off to do some fishing! :thumbsupu

 

[cpowell]

This is easy. One week in both. I replace some sleep with driving and no issues. You will actually run into more crowds in MT than CO, imho.

Either way two weeks isnt enough to see a lot but it is enough to fish a very very small fraction of insanely good trout water.

Plan your fish, fish your plan,

 

[jonbo]

since fred was last here in the 1950s its much better :icon_surp

They had bigger gas tanks back then, though, I think.

 

[0bie]

Thanks, i wil have a look into the tool, so the southwest is in some ways the best. I it possible to find the some less traveled/ fished streams?

That Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks site I mentioned has a section called "Fishing Pressure" for some lakes and streams where it lists the estimated number of fishing days (basically, the number of fishing trips per year) as well as where the fishery ranks in popularity at the regional and statewide scale. So for example, the Clark Fork River (near Missoula) from its confluence with the Little Blackfoot River to its headwaters had an estimated 9000 days fished and a rank of 13 (13th most popular fishery in the region). The next stretch down, the Clark Fork River from its confluence with the Bitterroot to its confluence with the Little Blackfoot had 5700 fishing days and is the 20th most popular fishery within the region. The data's a little out of date and doesn't factor in the length of the reach (a longer stretch of stream with large numbers of anglers may have a lower angler density than a short stretch with a lower total number of fishing trips). But, t'll give a vague idea of how popular certain stretches of stream are.

I've had pretty good success avoiding crowds out west if you're willing to walk 45 minutes or an hour upstream or down- most folks concentrate around public fishing accesses and bridge crossings. Some of the more remote (5+ mile hike in) lakes may only see a half-dozen anglers a year, whereas the ones you can drive right up to will be packed, particularly if they're close to major towns or on weekends. But if you're willing to walk, you can find solace.

As others have mentioned Montana's a big state, and once you've settled on which species you want to target and when it'll be easier to narrow down which waters will be receiving the greatest pressure. If you're planning on visiting shortly after runoff the big hatch in most of western Montana will be salmonflies, large stoneflies that can run something like 7.5 cm as winged adults. Lots of folks target those hatches and it can make some rivers such as the Big Hole pretty crowded. But once you've settled on a region it may help to contact local fly shops and let them know you'll be in the area, and ask questions about what to expect. Alternatively, John Holt's books on fly fishing Montana (there's two volumes, one for streams east of the Great Divide and one for the west) are an excellent resource for finding access to the big rivers as well as hundreds of smaller streams and lakes.

Another bit of advice while I'm thinking about it: don't plan on hopping off the plane and hitting the trail for a few hours hike. Most of western Montana is above 4000-5000 feet and altitude and many of the mountain streams and lakes are above 7000 feet, take at least two days to acclimate, even if you're in good shape. The first time I went out west I spent the first two days trying to fulfill grand visions of hammering streams and overdid it; I wound up spending a considerable amount of time with my hands tucked between my knees . Drink plenty of water, too- whether it's Montana or Colorado, they're both surprisingly arid climates and folks all too often don't realize how much they're sweating until they get in trouble.

 

[nah85]

Here is a thread on "Planning a Trip to Montana" that you might find interesting to read through:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...366906-planning-fly-fishing-trip-montana.html

Here is another thread on Montana's public access points:

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...30-montana-public-access-points-listings.html

Good info here that will definitely help! A friend and I are also planning a trip to Montana from Virginia as well. Planning to Amtrak it if we can find a taxi or uber service, unless that's a bad idea?

 

[fredaevans]

since fred was last here in the 1950s its much better :icon_surp

I find that hard to believe! Montana is not a 'place,' Montana is a 'State of Mind.' Hamilton, MT, one of my fave places in America .... local bar and the guys, 10AM, are standing out side sipping Whiskies. Police going to 'shoo' them inside? Not a chance in heck.:thumbsupu Thought that so cool I went in, bought a beer and joined them.

'Where you from 'Boy?'

'St. Boniface, Manitoba.'

'Where the hell's that???'

Bought them next 'round.'

Lots of great 'where to' fishing information exchanged! Local's know.:secret:

fae