Montana: Rainbows, Browns & Stimulators

by | Fresh Water

Montana Video

On the third fishing day of our fly fishing trip to Montana, we met some friends in the Gallatin River Canyon outside of Gallatin Gateway. The landscape was very different from the area around the Missouri River, green, lush and full of life. The river was loaded with eager rainbows and browns ranging from 6 to 14 inches and size 12 stimulator flies brought them to the surface with reckless abandon. It was fun fishing, a contrast to the “A” game we needed to bring up on the Missouri and we just fished and laughed all day long. There seemed no end to the amount of fish in each pool and you could stand in one spot and catch fish after fish. If you weren’t careful, you could forget that you were standing in one of the most picturesque spots in the world. It was truly wonderful and I hope to get back there one day. The water was clear, cold and the current was surprisingly strong and you could walk in water over your head if you weren’t careful because the clear water made it tough to judge water depth. The fish put up respectable fights and even the small ones actually took a bit of line off my four weight fly rod. Best of all, they were wild. The one draw back to the Gallatin River is that it ran right along the road so we were seldom alone but it didn’t seem to bother the fish at all. We would catch 20 fish through a stretch and someone would follow us and catch 20 more. Too cool. I highly recomend this part of Montana.

2 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    shaq — great video and tune … jerry and trout fishing in montana are a perfect fit; in my opinion … looks like you guys really had a blast on that river and caught a ton of fish … which probably took the edge of for the missouri … sometimes, its nice to have a go-to honey hole whether in fresh or saltwater that produces big numbers and bends the rod …. i often find myself needing that kind of fishing after getting my teeth kicked in by harder to catch fish … kinda like a big pod of hungry and easy to trick bluefish can save the day after a full day of chasing hard tails with no luck and lots of mistakes …. so, i can appreciate having fun on a river like you write about with rafts going by and “easy” to catch trout … because i bet when you got on the missouri there were times when you were jonesing for a little bit of “easy fishin” … i am sure we will cross paths soon chasing the steel … till then .. cya.

  2. hrhitter755 on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Great story! I too found out how fruitful the Gallatin River can be. This summer I was there in mid July for the spruce moth hatch. You couldn’t be more right about the beauty of the areaor how many fish you can catch on the river. Enjoyed your story and good luck in future endeavors!