Jul 30-31
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7/30/98 – Thursday

bulletBreakfast at the Big Hole Crossing Rest. (since this is the only option in town, it seemed like the right one to take!)
bulletSplit into two groups with AB/JR/MS heading for the river section behind the Cemetery while AM/CL head farther down river to check out the water we had logged in on the way to Wisdom (just love saying "on the way to Wisdom" – sounds so kewl!)
bulletAM/CL fish area by Jerry Creek Access. Chet hits a big fish and gets another strike. AM catches a small grayling. Guides were working the river with clients as they floated through this section. Water looked pretty good even though we didn’t really dial it in.
bulletMet up with the other 3 a little after 1 PM. MS/JR had caught a ton of brook trout plus a couple of grayling. Red was the color – fly pattern was irrelevant that day. AB caught fish in a different area as well. Area was very muddy, very brushy, heavy with mosquitoes (bring your quinine), some moose sign, and no other sign of anyone ever fishing down there (although we suspect locals fish there since we were told about it by them). Consensus was that area was worth repeating some time in the future.

Cemetary Hole 98.jpg (72529 bytes)  JR Cemetary Hole.jpg (89915 bytes)  Mike Cemetary Hole 98.jpg (130678 bytes)

bulletPacked up gear and headed on over Chief Joseph Pass (past the Nez Perce Battlefield) and down into the Bitterroot Valley.
bulletStopped by Hannon Access on the Bitterroot to dabble at fishing there. Found a small dead bull trout with hook/line in it attached to yellow plastic casting weight. No other action noted although temps were pretty warm. Moved on up to Hamilton
bulletFound a Super 8 Motel in Hamilton and got rooms for the night. Dinner at 4B’s Rest. next door. There was a well used Lil’s Casino attached to the Hotel which got a fair amount of use. Heck, even Bud Lilly used the Casino when we were there. There was a convenience store and gas station also part of the complex. Pretty much all of the essentials a traveler could want.

7/31/98 – Friday

bulletAM up early and off to the Riverbend Athletic Club for an early morning workout. Worked out on exercise bike, showered, and walked back to Hotel (about 1 ˝ miles each way). Arrived back in time for rest of the team to just be getting ready.
bulletFound bakery in Hamilton with really good coffee. Took team back there for breakfast.
bulletBakery and Coffee House 162 South 2nd Street Hamilton, MT 59840 406-363-0080 Korly & Vicky, Owners. Vicky said her son had done well recently fishing down by Tucker Crossing Fishing Access on the Bitterroot down by the community of Victor.
bulletLearned that someone else had won the Powerball Lottery this time. Probably can’t afford to make this trip a life style quite yet.
bulletWe headed upstream on the Bitterroot into the West Fork region. Stopped by the Ranger Station – no really useful info except that they had heard of fish being caught up on Blue Joint Creek (or something like that).
bulletWent on up the gravel access road above Painted Rocks Reservoir (road ends up by the Wilderness Area in Idaho) and fished above Alta campsite which is about 8 miles from the Ranger Station. Everyone caught lots of little fish include the largest of about 14 inches. Other guys we met up there had kept 12-13 inchers of which they felt good about. This section of the river, however, is Catch & Release. Hmmmmm.
bulletStopped and talked to the Folks at West Fork Meadows Ranch (52 Coal Creek Road Darby, MT 59829 406-349-2468). They had beautiful grounds, lots of cabins, a lodge, office, etc. but not one was staying there! Looked a like a scene for an Alfred Hitchcock murder mystery vis a vis Pyscho! Didn’t get a straight story on what was going on there. Found out later that the cabins were going for $195 per night – may explain why no one was there! What is the business basis here for such a place?
bulletFolks suggested we fish up and downstream along the river from the bridge on the way into the Ranch. Probably private property but "everyone does it" – sounded like a prescription for a problem. Time prevented us from pursuing this path to disaster.
bullet2 guys from Walla Walla we met said that fishing at S. End of Reservoir was pretty good but marshy and muddy. [Also would have been crossing private lands according to the map]. They caught fish including a couple in the 12-13 inch range. Putting the usual time and story telling dilation factor into the equation, we can safely assume that they were catching fish in the 8 inch range.
bulletAbout 2:30 PM we decided we needed to do something about lodging for the evening since we knew that Hamilton was going to be full this evening due to a Montana State Legion A Baseball tournament. Off to Darby.
bulletDarby full. But they found us a room back up on the West Fork of the Bitterroot at a place called the West Fork Lodge (WFL). Had rooms, inexpensive, and available. Sounds good, we said, without asking the key question – Why is this place available but no where else????
bulletArrived at the WFL and took the rooms which were rustic, largely clean, no TV, etc.
bulletBig rain and wind storm blew in after we were at the WFL which had the effect of clearing the surrounding forests of a large number of locals who apparently were working in those same woods. The WFL was the centralized watering hole for the local region. Like watering holes in Africa, a strange but fascinating group of animals assemble around the water in the evening.
bulletGame Warden is changing the tire on his Bear Trap in the parking lot. Shouldn’t have left my sandwich laying on that tire! We assist. Caught several in the area & moved them out. More to go.

Mike the Bear 98.jpg (117950 bytes)

bullet

CL talks with young fellow with a truckload of goats.  Turns out he patrols area of the backwoods and uses the goats for beasts of burden for his supplies.  Maybe they are also for entertainment.  One can only speculate.

Chet and Goat Boy 98.jpg (85914 bytes)

bulletCL puts $20 in a poker machine, wins $200+ and buys drinks for the bar. AB brings in smoked salmon for all and the crowd gets friendlier. Suggested fishing locations are flying.
bulletCL met a fellow (Darrell) at the bar who said he would show us a number of good local holes on the West Fork to fish that evening. [Images from the movie Deliverance came to my mind!…. but Hey! This is an adventure – go with the flow] Darrell took us to two spots on the river where he had some luck fishing previously. We split into two groups for the two holes (MS/JR and AB/AM while CL continued to search out key information for the future back at the WFL waterhole.
bulletFishing was slow at both holes although we did catch some small ones. The water structure look more conducive to bait or spinner fishing than to fly fishing. However, the evening hatch may have been off since it got quite cold that evening due to the front moving through. Bats start grabbing our flies on the back cast. AB/AM fished until 10:20 (it was very dark!) before calling it a night and heading back to the WFL.
bulletTold Darrell about our inept lack of success. He and CL had hatched another scheme for us to catch fish by hitting a private pond full of big fish that Darrell and his brother had at a place just down the road. Well,…….why not?
bulletParty time at the WFL. Some of us went to bed early, some not. New personal consumption records established by some players in several categories. JR met the guy from the bookstore with AM/AB had visited the year before. Small world and a very interesting slice of Montana culture.