Mountains, Cutties and Bears, Oh My

In the past couple of weeks on the Mo, the fishing has slowed down and the crowds have decreased. Working less has given me time to explore a little bit. I've been hitting some small streams lately and trying to stay off the larger waters. Finding and exploring new waters is always a fun gig, especially if you find that those waters are full of cutties, willing to take almost any attractor dry you choose to throw. 

Small but beautiful

My boss Chris has over 30 years of fly fishing knowledge that he occasionally gives out in small doses. He recently told me of a high mountain lake in the Bob Marshall Wilderness that was full of big Yellowstone cutties. With my camping gear in the car, I headed for the mountains.

It turned out to be one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on. The fishing proved to be slow, with most of the fish in the lake being out in the middle.

I haven't seen a bear in Montana since my run in with a black bear on Rattlesnake Creek during my first week of college. Fortunately enough, as I walked down the steps of our front porch near Craig, I found a bear walking about 30 feet from me. It looked at me and continued on its way. I slowly walked to my car, got my camera and watched as the bear walked right up on some high rocks. It sat up there for a few minutes just watching me. Very cool to see. 

It's been a great couple of weeks and work is slowly but surely coming to an end. Garret just arrived in Missoula today from South Carolina as well as Chris Gratton who spent his summer back in Vermont. They both are very excited to be back in Montana again. 

My little sister Ellie and my Mom are headed out west to see me soon. Hopefully I'll get to show them what Montana is all about. My last day of work will be the 23rd, and then it's back to Missoula for good.