Fishing the Missouri River with Pelicans

A lot of the Missouri River doesn't look like the same river Lewis and Clark traveled. As you move downstream from the town of Three Forks, there are four dams which are used to generate electricity and provide irrigation to crops and food for the cattle some of us eat. The Great Falls that the Lewis and Clark expedition had to portage around are now topped by a major dam that feeds electricity to the city of Great Falls and surrounding areas and provides irrigation water for crops and cattle.

On the surface, dams look like a great idea, and to be honest I wouldn't be writing this post if it had not been for the Holter Dam that created nearly 40 miles of fine trout water that I talk about later. But if you are old enough, you might remember that Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater fought hard and won for the building of the controversial Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, that now provides water to all those golf courses and folks living in southern Arizona where once there was just a desert. Here is what Barry Goldwater said in 1988, many years after the Glen Canyon Dam was built: “What have we done to this beautiful desert, to our wild rivers? All that dam building on the Colorado, across the West, was a big mistake. What in the world were we thinking?”

As a trout fisherman fishing the Top 100 trout streams in America (according to the Trout Unlimited organization) I have witnessed good and bad things about dams. In the Catskills of New York I found legendary trout streams dammed and the water piped to New York City for drinking water. I have also seen a dam built on the Jackson River which destroyed miles of great trout water to prevent flooding of the papermill in Covington, Virginia. This was a dam that was partially sold on the idea it would create a great tailwater recreation area for trout fishing, until the landowners fought court battles to prevent fisherman using these trout waters. I have also fished great trout waters like the tailwater from the Yellowtail Dam and the tailwater from the aforementioned Glen Canyon dam. As an American and a conservation-oriented trout fisherman, I hope our politicians will always do a proper cost benefit study and that the "cost" will always include the damage to the environment, including all the critters and people who live in and love that environment.

With all of this in mind, Carol and I traveled to Wolf Creek, Montana so I could fish the Missouri at the tailwater of Holter Dam. After stopping at two fly shops for information and fishing supplies, we headed to the campsite at the base of the dam.

Here is one of the flyshops we stopped at, Rich's Tackle, in a little shed in Rich's backyard in the small, friendly town of Three Forks. In addition to giving great information and letting us take this photo, this likeable owner sold us flies for $1 each. I would later pay $2.50 each to resupply the ones lost on this river. (After Carol urged him to stock up on more of Rich's flies... will he never learn?)

Along the dirt road to the dam campground we spotted these white pelicans resting on a big rock in the river. Pelicans are a good sign that there are a lot of fish in the river.

Just before we reached the campsite (in the background) we came upon this herd of Rocky Mountain big horn sheep coming down for a drink of water and perhaps a handout from the campers.

Off to our right we spotted this gal, who was obviously the lookout for the herd.

Wow, these guys can climb straight up a rock cliff, as we try to make room for this oncoming pickup.

Here we are at the bottom of the Holter Dam. Guides with their boats put in just above the camp. The chair in the foreground is from another camper. It is definitely NOT ours. I do not flyfish sitting down.

We signed up to stay two nights at the campsite so I could be sure I had enough time to catch at least one trout. When we arrived it was early afternoon and it was HOT. I could not see any trout rising and other fisherman indicated that the caddis flies start coming out of the water in the late afternoon and evening. So I spent most of the afternoon readying my gear, then donned my waders and headed for the river. A number of other trout fisherman were already on the stream and a few trout were rising for insects. I fished for awhile and hooked into a large fish. He was there for a moment and then was gone. When I reeled in, both of my flies were gone. (I had rigged with a dry fly and a dropper.) He had broken my line. I realized that my leader was too light. He had broken 3-pound test leader. Not much I could do about it, as that's what I had.

During the evening, I fished further downstream. I had lots of strong strikes, but each time the trout broke off my leader or the dropper. Carol snapped this picture of me in the middle of a cast.

After losing so many fish, I decided to go back to the RoadTrek and see if I had any stronger leaders or perhaps beg for one from the other trout fishermen. I found a stronger leader and tied on the smallest dry caddis fly imitation I had with me. I think the size was a number 20 (as determined by the hook size). Armed with this new set-up I headed back downstream just after sunset. Trout were rising everywhere. Four pelicans were fishing nearby. As I studied the dimple patterns the trout make, I noticed one that was consistently rising and had a very large tail (you can often see the dorsal fin and tail of a rising trout as he turns to head down after taking an insect either on or near the surface). So I cast to this trout several times. On one cast I must have successfully cast into his lane. I could not see my tiny fly but he rose near where I thought my fly should be. So I raised my rod and set the hook just in case. After a 10-minute fight with several gigantic leaps (him, not me), I landed a rainbow trout that was at least 21 inches. It was the largest trout I have caught so far on this trip.

Later as I was telling the story of my catch to Carol, I remembered that Lee Wulff who had an amazing career of fly fishing had created the idea of a 20-20 club. To become a member you had to catch a 20-inch trout (or larger) on a number 20 fly. I'm not into trophies and you won't find any of the trout or large bass I've caught over the years mounted on my walls. As gently as I could, I released this beautiful hard-fighting rainbow, while he was in the water, so someone else can catch him again. By the way, Lee Wulff's wife Joan was also an amazing award-winning fly fisher and has a fly fishing school named after her.

The next morning we decided not to stay another evening at the campsite. It was getting kind of crowded. We headed for Helena, with wifi and cell phone service, so Carol can do some work on her new book, while I rest up, catch up on my blog entries, and plan for the next river, the Smith River, not too far away. As we were leaving I snapped this picture on Friday morning to show how crowded the Missouri River can become on the weekend.

The rainbow trout I caught was just off the left bank that juts out into the water. A vehicle is visible on the road next to the bank.