5 Days Fishing, Camping, & Whitewater Rafting in Montana’s Grizzly-Infested Woods
I spent 5 days at the best cutthroat trout fishing destination in the US with Glacier Anglers & Outfitters. At the start of the trip, I had little fly fishing experience. I’d never caught a trout on a fly rod, but by the end I’d caught well over 100 westslope cutthroat trout. Including several giants, and I was intentionally trying to make it more difficult on myself. This was an epic, once-in-a-lifetime adventure I’ll never forget, and I hope you get to live it one day, too. But for now, you can live it vicariously through me.
Day 1: The Hike In & My First Cutthroat With Glacier Anglers & Outfitters
We loaded up our gear in a small bus and drove to the Great Bear Wilderness Area. The Great Bear Wilderness is where problem bears are often released instead of being euthanized. This was my first time in grizzly country, so to say I was a little nervous was an understatement. After getting dropped off at the trailhead, we helped load our gear onto mules and began the six-mile hike to the Flathead River. Glacier Anglers also fly to the river, but they’re only offered during the early summer months, and I was there in August.
The hike wasn’t anything too crazy, nor did we see any grizzlies, thankfully. Despite being out of shape and facing a few steep hills, I made it to the beautiful river, where the guides made sandwiches while we waited for our gear to arrive so we could continue the adventure downriver. Once the mules arrived, the guides loaded everything into the rafts, gave a safety briefing, and we climbed in. There were four rafts total: two gear boats and two fishing boats. The gear boaters went ahead to set up camp while the fishing boats eased our way from fishing hole to fishing hole.
It didn’t take long to catch my first westslope cutthroat trout after a quick casting lesson. The ferocious little guy was in a deep pool just below a ripple and smoked my dry fly on the dry-dropper rig. We caught several more out of that hole, quickly releasing them all thanks to the barbless hooks. We weren’t allowed to keep these trout, so we took extra precautions (wetting our hands, using barbless hooks, and rubber-coated nets) to help them survive after being caught. We only had a short couple of miles to float to camp, so we took our time fishing each spot and ended up catching about 30-50 trout per boat by the time we reached camp. None were very big, but the guides promised they would get bigger downstream.
When we arrived at camp, the gear boaters had set up our tents and started dinner. The appetizers and steaks were delicious. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing by the fire, getting to know each other, before heading off to bed.
Day 2: Cutthroat Trout Fishing At Its Finest
I unzipped my tent to a crisp, cool morning and one of the most amazing views I’d ever witnessed. I watched the sunrise as the river flowed through the mountains. The soothing sound of water rushing over the boulders in the nearby rapids made my cup of coffee taste even better. Breakfast soon followed, then we broke down camp, loaded the rafts, and continued downriver.
The fishing, or should I say catching, picked up right where it left off. We hit our first real rapids of the trip, and the guides had us get out to lighten the load so they could make it through much more easily. After they successfully made it through, we hopped back in and started fishing again.
This is when the fishing started to get mind-blowingly good. We were still catching loads of small fish, but bigger fish started biting more often. The fish bit no matter if we cast our flies, seam lines, deep pools, fast ripples, and anywhere that looked like a fish might be there; there was a fish. When we stopped for lunch at S-Turn Rapids, one of our guides proved he knew what he was talking about when he landed a beautiful giant cutthroat, one of the prettiest of the trip. After we got back into the rafts and started floating again, it was at this point in the trip that I realized a major dilemma. As I looked down to fish, I missed the scenic views, but as I looked up to experience the incredible scenery, I missed bites. I lost count of the number of times that I was looking at the incredible rock formations and felt the thump, thump of a trout biting my fly floating beside the boat. They were so eager to bite; it was ridiculous.
As with day 1, camp was already prepped, and our salmon dinner was well underway when we arrived. As evening faded to night, we were serenaded before drifting off to sleep.
Day 3: Does Life Get Any Better Than This?
I awoke on a cold day three morning, bundled up in my sleeping bag, eagerly awaiting the hot cup of coffee in my future. We had eggs and sausage for breakfast, then packed up and pushed off to start fishing. It didn’t take long before we were on them. We paddled a short distance downriver, then bailed out at a promising-looking pool with ripples above and a shallow stretch to stand in. We all started casting our flies into the pool, with great success. At least ten big and small fish were caught while we stood there for twenty minutes. When we decided we’d caught enough from that spot, we hopped back into the rafts and started downstream.
He paddled through ripples, catching lots of small fish, until I finally had a bite that looked different. I immediately knew this fish was bigger than the rest. Not only could I see it in the crystal-clear water, but I could feel it fighting much harder than the others I’d caught. I was pumped when I finally landed it in the net. A short time later, I landed another first, a whitefish. They’re bottom feeders, so it was a rare surprise when it ate my dry fly.
Fishing only paused when we stopped to portage around some technical rapids that the guides went through. As soon as it resumed, the big cutthroats started biting again, and it seemed like everyone caught at least one really good fish that day.
Huckleberry pork chops were served for dinner when we arrived at camp. After dinner, we went on a short hike to enjoy an epic view of the river and mountains from the side of the mountain where we were camping.
Day 4: The Dangers Are Real
An uneasiness filled the air on the morning of day four, despite having a delicious breakfast. After packing camp and continuing downriver, the fishing remained excellent, but something still felt off. Today was the day we entered the Spruce Park Gorge. A two-mile series of legendary rapids with towering cliff walls, waterfalls, technical drops, and intense whitewater. Our guides had all run it before, but there was a new boulder in one of the rapids that no one had seen while paddling a raft. We put away our fly rods, received a safety briefing, slapped on our helmets, and tightened our life vests before entering Spruce Park.
Prior to this trip, my only whitewater rafting experience was at a couple of manmade whitewater parks in Oklahoma, neither of which compared to what I was about to witness. The Class III & IV rapids were impressive, but I was mesmerized by the clear, deep pools and mountainous views. Hearing the river roar around us reminded me of how powerful water is and how one wrong move could end in disaster. If you were to fall out of the boat, you could get pinned against a rock, sucked down in an undercurrent, or stuck in a strainer (tree). People had lost their lives on this stretch, which is why the guides were so uneasy that morning.
Luckily, we made it through Spruce Park without any major issues and had lunch. After we ate, we started fishing again. With the main dangers behind us and the fishing picking up right where we left it, the guides loosened back up. The smiles returned as the fishing boats doubled and tripled on fish. Even the cameraman got in on the action, catching several before we reached camp.
At camp, we had another incredible view as we ate chicken quesadillas. Our last night on the river hit differently. It felt more like a family than a group of strangers and friends, like it had when we started. We reluctantly went to bed, not wanting the night to end because we all knew tomorrow was the last day.
Day 5: It’s Already The End?
The last morning began with sizzling bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy. I didn’t expect the food to be this good when I first started the trip. My river trips are never this incredible, so I expected to lose some weight; instead, I’m certain I gained four or five pounds.
As we packed the rafts for the last time, I decided I only wanted to throw a big streamer on a three-weight rod, which wasn’t easy, but I wanted to catch a big fish using a big lure on a light rod. That didn’t happen, only because I missed a couple with bad hooksets, but everyone else caught some excellent fish that day. The last fish I caught was unique; a talon mark indicated that it had recently had a run-in with an eagle or osprey, but it lived to fight another day.
We rounded the last river bend before our takeout spot at Bear Creek and saw the first person, who wasn’t in our group, in five days. We loaded the gear, headed back to Paddle Ridge, the Glacier Anglers & Outfitters Headquarters, and let reality flood back in with the missed text messages, emails, and phone calls.
Five days in the wilderness without cell phone service, fishing, camping, and whitewater rafting are great for the soul, but it definitely ends too soon.
The post 5 Days Fishing, Camping, & Whitewater Rafting in Montana’s Grizzly-Infested Woods appeared first on AllOutdoor.com.