E. Idaho, W. Montana. Any tips?

[chinacat]

Heading out to Eastern Idaho on June 23 for some days. Probably will be in the panhandle forest for eight days. Heading back to W. Montana (other than a week or so in YS and Madison Valley) for the rest of the summer until August 15th. I don't expect anyone to spot burn, but any rec's aside from the big ones in the panhandle of Idaho? We'll probably spend a few days in the CDA and St. Joe drainages, so looking for any spectacular tribs in those areas. Same goes for W. Montana - have fished RC, BF, etc extensively, so smaller stuff that is preferably within two hours of Missoula as that is our home base. Feel free to PM.

 

[Mike]

A stream that looked very interesting to me was the Yaak River, trib to Kootenai R. Its just over the border in extreme NW Montana. There is at least one very small campground along it. I think it was a National Forest campground with just a few (very few) sites. Might be worth doing some homework to find out if the river is as good as the habitat suggested.

 

[KeviR]

I fished the Jocko, NW of Missoula. (You will need a reservation permit.) It runs along the southern edge of the National Bison Range. It was a smaller river with mainly rainbows as I recall. Worth checking out.
Have also heard good things about Monture Creek, trib to the Blackfoot. Also the N Fork Blackfoot in later summer is exceptional. It's a bit of a hike, but not crazy. That's grizzly country, though, so bring spray.

 

[Dan_r]

Water can still be quite high in June out there with snowmelt, hope you get some good water.

 

[chinacat]

Thank you all for the ideas - they're much appreciated.

Water can still be quite high in June out there with snowmelt, hope you get some good water.

Yes! That's certainly a concern. We're leaving June 23rd no matter what, and honestly, I don't care much about melt. That is kind of why we set the first week or so aside for ID. Snowpack in the panhandle is fortunately (unfortunately for the rivers) at 50% of the normal. I'm thinking this will work out for us, but hopefully not ruin the latter days of the summer. Even the Clark Fork basin is at 50%. When we were out last summer in Mid July Rock Creek was still pushing heavily.

I fished the Jocko, NW of Missoula. That's grizzly country, though, so bring spray.

No stranger to Grizz country but luckily the closest I've come was a fresh track in the Gros Ventre. Always have spray ready and accessible. The NF of the BF is one we have on the list for sure. I've heard it's a great little trib. Monture Creek is one I've seen on google maps that looks promising.

 

[chinacat]

A stream that looked very interesting to me was the Yaak River, trib to Kootenai R. Its just over the border in extreme NW Montana. There is at least one very small campground along it. I think it was a National Forest campground with just a few (very few) sites. Might be worth doing some homework to find out if the river is as good as the habitat suggested.

I'll have to check this out - if snowpack is really as light as I'm seeing it might be worth the trip over.

 

[PennKev]

I'll have to check this out - if snowpack is really as light as I'm seeing it might be worth the trip over.

This late in the spring. the current snowpack charts don't tell you the whole story. You need to take into consideration total snow fall, not just what is left. With that in mind the more northern watersheds did not do as well as the ones in SW MT, YNP, CO etc.

 

[chinacat]

This late in the spring. the current snowpack charts don't tell you the whole story. You need to take into consideration total snow fall, not just what is left. With that in mind the more northern watersheds did not do as well as the ones in SW MT, YNP, CO etc.

Good point. I've been watching it for quite some time and snowpack has always been below average and I've just been basing it on that. Fingers crossed the rivers drop to a nice level before we head back to MT on 7/8.

 

[PennKev]

Good point. I've been watching it for quite some time and snowpack has always been below average and I've just been basing it on that. Fingers crossed the rivers drop to a nice level before we head back to MT on 7/8.

You'll be fine for MT in July.

 

[chinacat]

You'll be fine for MT in July.

I'm thinking the same. Last year was a different story. Got out there July 15th and it was a good two weeks behind from what I was told. Didn't seem that crazy to me, but fly shops said it was a good bit higher than usual.

 

[JD CDA Idaho]

Heading out to Eastern Idaho on June 23 for some days. Probably will be in the panhandle forest for eight days. Heading back to W. Montana (other than a week or so in YS and Madison Valley) for the rest of the summer until August 15th. I don't expect anyone to spot burn, but any rec's aside from the big ones in the panhandle of Idaho? We'll probably spend a few days in the CDA and St. Joe drainages, so looking for any spectacular tribs in those areas. Same goes for W. Montana - have fished RC, BF, etc extensively, so smaller stuff that is preferably within two hours of Missoula as that is our home base. Feel free to PM.

i live in CdA, and travel through Montana all the time. Fishing on the CDA (Kingston Exit, Interstate 90) and then going upstream until you can safely wade is excellent right now. Probably mile marker 20 to 40 if I were to go out today. I have fished up to mile marker 5 since early May because it‘s convenient. Fishing 0 MM to MM 20 is still possible, but the water is deceptively fast and you won‘t be able to reach all the holes without crisscrossing. Sometimes i take my inflatable just so I can cross. Dry flies: Adams, Parachute Adams, smaller mayflies, griffith’s gnat, caddis, prince nymphs, madam x, yellow humpy, purple haze.

Half way between CDA and Missoula is a gorgeous stream called St Regis River. I fished there 2x already this year. Still a little high, but shaping up everyday, even wet wadded last week. It was 87 degrees. Same flies. Stay lower. This river dumps into the Clark Fork River. The Clark Fork is chocolate brown right now. From that point up stream at most 3 miles, are the best waters. Go any higher and the fish are small.

The St Joe isn’t fishable until July. The run off is later and hard to time. If you go too late, the water gets skinny and the upper stretches just don’t fish well. I don‘t fish the lower St Joe because there are tons of people rafting and partying on tied together tubes. If you go, go all the way to the top. There is a camp site call Spruce, and then walk up the horse trail for about 2 miles and then fish back to camp. Mid to late July would be the earliest I would personally go there.

Blackfoot River just a few miles west of Lincoln, MT is a favorite of mine. August, Sept and Oct are best. South of Missoula is the Bitterroot. It too drains into the Clark Fork. I drove past it last week. Still high and 75% clear. it probably needs 3 weeks before it‘s wade fishing again.