Trout Tails - September 18, 2016

Sometimes you are forced to call an audible.  With all that was going on in and around Yellowstone this year, we decided to head west to Missoula instead of our annual park trip.  Exploring new water is always fun, and really, it was about time that we did this.  Don't get me wrong, I love the park, but it is nice to change it up every once and a while. 

We spent the week exploring small streams in the Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests, as well as fishing the Blackfoot.  While we didn't catch any monsters, we did catch quite a few nice fish.  Being from PA, it took a while to get used to fishing tricos at 2 in the afternoon, but we had 2 days in particular where there was pretty steady trico action from about 10-2pm.  Watching size 8 October Caddis (read pterodactyls) flutter around clumsily was pretty wild as well.  Probably could have done without the moose encounter 50 feet from the car at the end of one day, but after a couple detours, we were able to get to the car and snap a few photos.  Hope you enjoy!  Can't wait for next year!

Bull Trout Spawning, had to skip a good bit of water so we didn't disturb them, but pretty cool to see.  

October Caddis

Crawling in and out of this canyon was interesting, but absolutely beautiful!

Largest crayfish I've ever seen.  Around 8 inches....guess I know what I'll be tying for next year.

Another canyon excursion

The reward for the climb

We weren't the only ones fishing

 

Until next year