by Johnny Tightlines
The first time I hooked up with a really large fish on the Bighorn I was chest high in my waders bobbing down stream after him trying to keep up before he blew past my backing. This was in the early 1990′s and the river had just re-opened after years of closure by the Crow Indians and the fishing was absolutely nuts. Back then it was our secret, today it is everybody’s secret. So, you ask, where are some of the other great places that aren’t as well discovered? Here are a few in south central Montana near Red Lodge, Montana, one of the best Montana real estate secrets left. In fact it is one of the very best mountain real estate and vacation properties left anywhere in the country.
We stay at a beautiful new development in Red Lodge called The Spires at Red Lodge. It has a beautiful trail system, views of 12,00 foot peaks and even a creek with trout in it in their large 12 acre park.
Really going in to great detail and giving you the stories that go with each of these streams isn’t possible in a short article. As my fishing buddy Randy says, “If I told you everything then I’d have to kill you.”
Right through the middle of downtown Red Lodge there is great fishing in the Main fork of Rock Creek early spring, late summer and in the fall (it is a bit high in early summer). Strip black streamers or use stone nymphs like a bitch creek. Bead head nymphs do pretty well, too. There are lot’s of small to medium sized rainbows and browns in Rock Creek and the further toward Roberts you go, the bigger the fish get.
Just a 20 minute drive to the west from The Spires at Red Lodge development along U.S. Highway 78 in Red Lodge is Roscoe, Montana home to the Grizzly Bar. Stop there on the way back from fishing, not on the way up. Go about 4 miles out of Roscoe towards East Rosebud Lake until you cross a wooden bridge. You can park there and walk down, or walk up. Dry flies if they are rising and nymphs and streamers if they aren’t. Streamers will be more successful on cloudy days.
If you are a real hedonist and don’t mind climbing big mountains for breakfast then you can take the trail-less trip up to a lake on the Beartooth Plateau called Arch. There are large cutthroat, some in excess of 5 pounds.
Take 78 west for another 14 miles past Roscoe and you arrive in Absarokee. Go west out of Absarokee along the Stillwater River. It is best to fish it from a raft and pullover to fish the runs, but you can do alright wading from bridge areas as well. It is great grasshopper and terrestrial fishing in late July and all of August. In the spring and fall it’s back to streamers and nymphs. This river gets a lot less pressure than the western Montana streams.
Another good lake in April and May is Newton down in Cody, Wyoming. I’ve caught some 5 pound plus browns and bows in here on little size 18 and 20 drys. It is a blast. If they are rising try a parachute adams. If not try a leech or a bugger stripped nice and slow.
The legendary Bighorn is only about 90 minutes from downtown Red Lodge which makes some of the best tailwater fishing in all of Montana really accessible as a day trip, which is pretty cool.
A lot of the high mountain lake stuff always has the word exercise attached to it. Of course you can fish lakes right along the highway at over 9,000 feet but since everybody and their dog can access these lakes then they are nearly as good as the lakes that are tough to access. That is what makes Glacier Lake so great. It is a 5mile dirt road off Highway 212 to get to a parking area. From there it is about a one hour hike up to the lake, which at 9,681 feet is often not even free of ice until mid-July. For the fortunate few who time it right there are some real big fish waiting. Go as deep as you can and retrieve slowly.
You really can’t beat the uncrowded experience that goes with Montana fishing. For skiing, biking, hiking, rafting, golfing, bird hunting, golf, and tons of other recreation it is tough to beat Red Lodge. This is why a few years back we decided to make a significant investment in Red Lodge Montana real estate. They just don’t make it like this anymore and the world keeps growing.