4 September 2009

Up at 0700, we packed for a journey to Ovando after another huge breakfast which Deb and Darrin of the Flint Creek Lodge prepared for us. Today’s menu included scrambled eggs, ham, peaches, OJ, pancakes, and coffee – everyone could eat their fill!! Darren gave us some tips on his experiences on the NF Blackfoot so we could check out those areas. After two nights in the Flint Creek Lodge and fishing the local areas (which we barely scratched I am sure), we would whole-heartedly endorse the Lodge as a great place to stay. While we were there for the great fishing (which is what we do), the pictures Darrin had in the lodge also show it to be a great base for hunting elk etc.

We had a delightful drive up to Ovando (Highways 271 to 141 to 200) – all paved now! Looked like some pretty good biking on the 141 stretch with winding hills – maybe next time. Checking into the hotel, we find it to have a new owner, Nord, a great guy who also intensively fishes in the area. We hope they weather this recession with the Ovando Hotel and make a good go of it!

While the others were heading for the fly shop, I stopped by the Blackfoot Challenge offices in Ovando which is a conservation group focused on restoration and protection of the Blackfoot drainage waters. It turns out the lady working in the office is from western Washington which is home to some of our group. Like many folks in these smaller communities, they work multiple jobs – in her case, it was going to be tending bar that night at Trixie’s – one of the few evening eateries in the area.

We picked up sandwiches to go at the Café – very nice ones I might add!! We headed in the heat of the afternoon to lower Monture Creek – we always try to hit the water at peak times – it makes the fishing much more challenging…..sigh……

The creek was running at a low water level; the few holes around structure were well defined, and so I was worried that the fish get pounded by folks as it is pretty obvious where to cast. Further, access at this water level was trivial as the stream was very easy to wade back and forth so access to the holes was also easy. Everyone did catch fish – yea!! It was pretty classic around woody structure with simple drag free drifts about 2-4 inches off the wood, and BOOM! a big cutt would come out from under the wood and hammer the dry fly (something smaller like a purple haze or parachute adams or something bigger like a plastic hopper) In faster, deeper water, you could bring them up on a hopper or a bead dropper. Very nice fishing but because of the easy access and clear structure, I had these nagging guilt feelings that these guys were sitting ducks….alas, I swallowed my pride and just caught some beautiful fish – and they were super sized and fun!!

After a quick bit of chow at the rigs, we headed off to the Blackfoot River where we could see the river below but had to figure out how to get down to it as the drop from the road shoulder was about 50 feet!. We ended up scrambling down over huge rip rap boulders, trying not to surprise a rattlesnake, and avoid twisting an ankle (or worse). Once into the water, we found it to be gin clear with easy wading as long as you didn’t walk off a sandbar into the very deep holes – don’t know how deep they were but I am sure they would be deeper than the top of Paul Bunyan’s waders.

GK and AB fish downstream of our entry point while JR and AM explore upstream. In an upstream riffle, AM hooks into 5 smaller fish on purple haze and BWO patterns ("4 cutts and a brown" – hmmm…sounds like that could be a title for a movie….). JR eschews the small stuff and, working a run closer to the rip rap, nails a huge cutthroat! Lots of yelling and smiles!! Cool fish, JR – easily the largest of this trip!!

GK and AB are catching fish on purple cripples and BWO’s – beautiful stretch of water with lots of corner pools and runs.

Pulling up a little after 8pm, we head for Trixie’s for dinner. The place is hopping – we were all able to order something with extra cholesterol from the menu…this is Montana!!

Crash back at the hotel in Ovando!