Bois Brule Fishing Forecast

A regional note specific to this water: the river's most productive water is the water you have to walk to reach, and the walk is not a bug but a feature, and the feature is the reason the locals catch more fish than the visitors, and the locals know the water you have to walk to reach, and the water is the water the river gives back to those who walk. the river's most productive flies are the ones you tie yourself, and tying forces you to learn the materials, and the materials teach you the river, and the river teaches you the flies, and the flies are the only flies the river knows. Rock Creek in western Montana is a freestone river in the high country of the Sapphire Mountains, and the only river in the state that produces a 5-fish day of wild cutthroats and bull trout from a small river that runs through a high-alpine canyon. The creek drains a series of snowmelt-fed streams on the Continental Divide, runs for about 50 miles through the Rock Creek valley, and finally drains into the Clark Fork River. A local once put it this way: The most popular trout water is the upper creek between the town of Phillipsburg and the town of Clinton, and that water is managed as a wild trout fishery by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The most popular access is the public water at the town of Phillipsburg, where the Lolo National Forest maintains a series of campgrounds and walk-in access to the upper creek. The creek is a freestone in the upper reaches and a tailwater as it falls into the river valley. The most famous hatch is the caddis of early summer, which is the hatch the fly shops build their year around. Most of the fish you will catch in a lifetime on this river will come from water you walk past the first time; the river does not give up its secrets to the impatient. The most famous local fly shop is the Rock Creek Anglers in Missoula, and the owner's advice is consistent: fish the upper creek, fish the caddis hatch, and stay out of the water. The most productive flies are 8-10 Sparkle Dun for the late-summer terrestrial rig, 20-22 Sculpzilla for the spring emergences, and a streamer 16-18 a Parachute for the bigger fish. The creek's personality is one of small-stream precision — the water is narrow, the wading is technical, and the dry-fly angler who can read the current will be rewarded with the largest wild cutthroats in the Sapphire Mountains. Stay in Phillipsburg or Clinton, eat at the Philipsburg Brewing Company, and fish the creek in two sections — the upper meadow water above the town of Phillipsburg and the lower canyon water below. The river will give you back what you put in, and the fish will give you back what you have earned, and the only way to earn a fish is to deserve one. The river's most productive hatches begin at the headwaters and move downstream; fish the headwaters first, and the downstream fish will be ready when you arrive.