Lolo Hot Springs and the Bitterroot River

Lolo Hot Springs had a certain fascination with us, as that was where Norman Maclean's brother Paul went to gamble in the movie A River Runs Through It. Turns out that gambling casinos are everywhere in Montana, since gambling is legal. They're at every gas station and on just about every corner (this is no exaggeration). The must do well for the state as there are no sales taxes in Montana. The hot springs were nice and very inexpensive. For $6 (all day senior rate) we got to swim in a 90 degree large swimming pool filled with mineral water, and soak in a 106 -degree indoor pool. Very nice and soothing. The trip up the mountain was beautiful and the rock formations around the hot springs were amazing. In one formation it looked like someone had carved a person sitting in a chair. On the way up and back a stream ran alongside the road, beckoning to Jack to come fish it. He resisted because the Bitterroot was next on his list.

The Bitterroot River - Fishing in the Missoula Suburbs - Bitterroot redemption

We started our trip to the Bitterroot from I-90, passing what we hoped would be the western and least travelled part of the city of Missoula. That didn't work; we had to mend our way through heavy traffic for miles, stopping at every stoplight.

We stopped at the second or third fishing access point so I could check out the river. The road to the access point was long and filled with the worst man-made speed bumps I have ever encountered. When we arrived at the parking lot I noticed a pickup with the word "Redneck" framed on the back window. Not a good sign, I thought to myself. As we approached the river I could see the tracks of ATVs. As we got nearer to the river, the roar of several ATVs greeted us. Seems like rednecks, pickups and ATVs go together. I don't like ATVs because they are dangerous and noisy. They certainly have no place on a Top 100 trout stream. I told Carol that I did not want to fish the river at this spot, so we moved on upriver.

As we travelled upriver we both noticed that we were passing a 20 mile long strip mall -- the suburbs of Missoula. This famous river was out there somewhere, but we couldn't see it.  Finally we passed over a bridge and got a glimpse of the river. A mile or so later we found a campground near Hamilton that had access to the Bitterroot. (But we were still in a strip-mall!)

As it was getting late in the day, I geared up and headed down to the river. This is a big wide river at this point with a swift current and the bottom is covered with football-sized boulders. I fished until dark with no strikes. No caddis flies or any other aquatic insects were coming off the river. I discussed my discouragement with this river with Carol. We agreed I would get up early the next morning, and try again for two hours. If I had no strikes by then, we would travel upstream, after stopping at a flyshop to discuss the fishing of this river.

Me fishing, and fishing, and fishing... the Bitterrroot River near Hamilton

I tried most every pattern I had, and all those that had worked on previous streams, for two hours in the early morning with no strikes. The guide at the flyshop we stopped at in Hamilton (there were at least four flyshops in this small town) told me the fishing was "off" last night but some of the guides had better luck further upstream.

The West Fork of the Bitterroot looked more like the kind of river I like to fish. There is an irrigation dam about 22 miles up the fork and I planned to fish above that dam and past the lake behind it, where the river was small and wild. It was a beautiful drive, finally far from the suburbs of Missoula. We found a nice little National Forest campground with hardly anyone there, with huge old Ponderosa pines. We took a site ($4) and I geared up and headed to the stream.

The irrigation dam on the West Fork of the Bitterroot. We continued on upstream of this dam.

Our campsite on the West Fork of the Bitterroot among the huge Poderosa Pine Trees.

This is my kind of trout fishing. A small, crystal-clear stream in the wilderness. Carol accompanied me and took photos of me fishing in the first hole. I almost immediately caught a 12-inch cutthroat trout. A beautiful native trout with two bright red gashes under its throat. The fish fought hard, ran my reel three times, and jumped out of the water. Carol took a picture of the trout jumping out of the water.

Me casting upstream into a nice pool.

Carol captured the moment when my 12-inch cutthroat jumped out of the water.

I continued to fish this wonderful little river for about 3 hours. I caught at least 10 more cutthroat trout in the 7- to 10-inch range and 2 whitefish in the 12-14 inch range. I used a barbless hook and returned all trout to the stream. We saw lots of wild life and the painted rock mountains were something to behold. The Bitterroot had redeemed itself.

On the way back down we snapped these photos

Painted Rock Mountains

There were two bucks with big racks hanging out together on the road down. Carol snapped this one..