I traveled to Crane Meadow Lodge in Twin Bridges, MT this week for our annual fly fishing trip there. Nick Reding, Bob Harness, Bob Reynolds, Jim Ewoldt and Dick Callaway, all from St. Louis, MO and Bob Maddocks, from NM, all met up with Bill King and me, from Sarasota, in Bozeman on Saturday morning. After gathering our gear and an hour and a half drive to the lodge, we settled in for 5 days of fishing.
Except for one very windy day, the weather was beautiful with temperatures ranging from the high 30's to the mid 70's and almost no humidity. After spending several months tarpon fishing in Florida's heat, it was a welcome relief! We fished the Madison, Beaverhead, Ruby and Big Hole Rivers and a several lakes including a high mountain lake near Dillon packed with cutthroats.
We spent most of our time fishing the Beaverhead and Madison rivers and Stone Creek, a Beaverhead tributary on private water. We found the Ruby to be high and cloudy, although a couple of spring creeks, Mill and Leonard's, that flow to the Ruby fished fine. The best action was on the Beaverhead and Stone Creek with browns to 24" and numerous fish over 20". The Madison also fished well with rainbows to 18" caught and released. Nick Reding and I had a good day on the Madison nymphing for rainbows from Valley Garden to Ennis Lake. Nick also had a good day fishing dry flies on the Madison.
Bill King and Bob Reynolds had a good day fishing for brookies with 3 and 4-weight fly rods on the upper Big Hole. Another group had good action with cutthroats while fishing a high mountain lake on Crane Meadow Lodge proprietor Cody Meine's family ranch near Dillon. Bill King and I had a couple of great days on the Beaverhead and Stone Creek with numerous browns over 20". I caught my personal best trout this year, a 24" brown that went over 5-pounds while hopper fishing on Stone Creek. On Thursday, Bob Harness and I caught and released 8 browns from 18' to 23" on hoppers while fishing a different section of Stone Creek. Dick Callaway also caught a 23" brown out of Stone Creek one day.
Watching those big browns "blast" a hopper and then trying to hang on with a 5-weight is exciting. It is very challenging fishing, casting upstream in a narrow creek with tall grass on either side. Once you hook a fish the real fun begins as they take off either upstream or sometimes back at you and between your legs!
If you are looking for a quality western trout fishing experience then you should check out Crane Meadow Lodge. Located in Twin Bridges, close to Ennis and Dillon in southwestern Montana, they fish the Beaverhead, Ruby, Jefferson, Madison and Big Hole rivers, several spring creeks and lakes. The best things about Crane Meadow are the variety and the amount of private water that they fish. They can be reached at (406) 684-5773 or www.cranemeadow.com. I'll be doing a slide presentation of this trip at the monthly meeting of the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers on Tuesday evening, August 28, at Twin Lakes Park (just east of I-75 at Exit 205, which is Clark Road or Rt. 72). The meeting begins at 7 PM, although there will be fly casting and fly tying before the actual meeting begins.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
