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Fishing Videos of Montana

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Trout Streams West of the Continental Divide

	WATCH BOB MARSHALL WILDERNESS ADVENTURE This is a documentary film of a 14 day solo fishing/backpacking trip into Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness. This features the streams South Fork Flathead River, Youngs Creek, Danaher Creek, Gordon Creek and the White River. The fish species are primarily bull trout and genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout. This is easily one of the greatest watersheds in the country and the adventure was one of the most challenging and difficult I have ever undertaken.
	WATCH BITTERROOT RIVER The Bitterroot River is the 3rd most heavily fished stream in Montana, behind only the Madison and Bighorn Rivers. I spent several days fishing the upper section in early September. The stream is not difficult to wade but most of the people I saw were in drift boats. The main fish appears to be the cutthroat trout but rainbow and brown trout are also present and can be found in large sizes.
	WATCH EAST FORK BITTERROOT RIVER The East Fork Bitterroot River flows for 20 miles thru western Montana before joining the west fork to form the Bitterroot River. The lower section runs near US Hwy 93 but only has a few access points and there it tends to get crowded. I prefer the upper section in the national forest. Here the cutthroat trout predominate and the action was good on nice sized fish.
	WATCH BITTERROOT RIVER, UPPER WEST FORK SECTION Most people who fish the West Fork Bitterroot River in Western Montana fish the tailwater section below Painted Reservoir. The upper section of the West Fork is a much different stream and one fished far less often. Cutthroats are the dominate species.
	WATCH BITTERROOT RIVER, LOWER WEST FORK SECTION The lower half of the West Fork Bitterroot River flows for about 20 miles from Painted Rocks Reservoir to the main Bitterroot River and offers a tailwater fishery. The fishing here is considered good and consistent, but most of the land on the lower west fork is private. There are a couple public boat launch areas and a few road access points scattered along its length. The stream can be waded but it is difficult to cross. Most people fish the west fork from a drift boat. Be warned that dangers exist on this stream so it is best to go with someone familiar with the route.
	WATCH BLACKFOOT RIVER Yes, this is the stream that "A River Runs Thru It" was based on, even though it was actually the Gallatin that was filmed. The Blackfoot River in Western Montana is a surprisingly good stream. Most of the fish I caught where cutthroat trout and they had an impressive size. There are many public access sites and while some areas might get a little crowded there are other areas that see little activity.
	WATCH BLODGETT CREEK Blodgett Creek flows for 17 miles before entering Montana's Bitterroot River. The lower few miles are on private land and are dewatered for agricultural purposes. The upper section runs thru national forest land and offers fishing for brook trout and cutthroats. There is a parking area and trail that follows Blodgett Creek up to its source. This is a popular hiking area for local residents so be sure to arrive early to find a parking space. The scenery along the trail is outstanding. The stream itself gets very little pressure. The beaver ponds offer the best fishing. Some areas have a lot of boulders. If you hike to the end of the trail you can fish at Blodgett Lake and catch cutthroats.
	WATCH BLUE JOINT CREEK Blue Joint Creek in far western Montana is part of the West Bitterroot River watershed. It flows for 22 miles thru the Bitterroot National Forest. The first 4 miles are followed by a forest road and the rest is followed by a trail up to its headwaters. The stream is scenic, lightly fished, easy to wade and has good populations of decent sized cutthroat trout along with a few brook trout and bull trout.
	WATCH BOULDER CREEK There are many Boulder Creeks. This Boulder Creek is a tributary of the West Fork Bitterroot River in far southwestern Montana. It is full of small cutthroat trout. It is 10 miles long and a good portion of it flows thru the Bitterroot National Forest. There is a parking area and trail following the stream up to its source at Boulder Lake.
	WATCH CLARK FORK RIVER The Clark Fork River flows for 330 miles thru Western Montana and carries the largest amount of water of any Montana River. The upper section of the Clark Fork is considered as the first 28 miles below the confluence of Silver Bow and Warm Springs Creek. There are public parking and access areas and a lot of trout. Many years ago the Clark Fork was basically lifeless due to excessive mining pollution. After a massive cleanup effort it's doing pretty well. Brown trout and cutthroats are the main trout here. This stream holds a special place in my heart as it signaled the beginning of my quest to improve handle designs for spin-fly rods. I had been using a flawed design method which contributed to my loosing a nice fish here. After the season was over I developed a patented solution and the rest is history.
	WATCH COPPER CREEK This Copper Creek is a tributary to the Middle Fork Rock Creek in western Montana. It flows mostly thru national forest lands for 5.5 miles and is followed by either a road or a trail. The main fish species is cutthroat trout with a few brook and small bull trout present. The lower portion has a lot of beaver dams.
	WATCH FLINT CREEK Flint Creek is a medium-small meandering stream in western Montana. While it is known as a good producer of small brown trout I was able to catch a 21" brown trout, my largest so far. My 7'6" 4wt custom spin-fly rod perform admirably during the fight. This is technically a fly rod with a spinning reel attached. You can learn more about spin-fly rods by clicking here.
	WATCH LITTLE BLACKFOOT RIVER The Little Blackfoot River is a tributary of the Clark Fork River in Western Montana. The upper section runs thru national forest land and has good access. There are a lot of trout in this upper section, mostly cutthroats with a few brook trout. The lower section is known as a good producer of small brown trout but has less favorable access.
	WATCH LOLO CREEK Lolo Creek is a delightful little stream not far from Missoula in Western Montana. A tributary to the Bitterroot River, it has a variety of trout in its waters. I was catching mostly cutthroats and brown trout. There is good access in the middle and upper sections.
	WATCH MIDDLE FORK FLATHEAD RIVER ADVENTURE This is about a 6 day fly-in fishing trip to Montana's Middle Fork Flathead River. Also featured are Schafer Creek (6:02) and Dolly Varden Creek (12:28). The primary fish here are cutthroat trout. The area gets a bit crowded from mid-June to mid-July but in August there were no other anglers.
	WATCH NORTH FORK BLACKFOOT RIVER The North Fork Blackfoot River in Western Montana is 38 miles long. There are sections that run thru national forest land, hike-in wilderness areas and other sections passing thru private lands with public road crossings. I show all 3 sections in this film. Most of the fish are cutthroat trout.
	WATCH NEZ PERCE FORK This stream demonstrates the versatility and advantages of fishing with a spin-fly rod, such that you can switch from a fly reel to a spinning reel quickly to deal with whatever situation you encounter. You can read more about spin-fly rods on my website. Nez Perce Fork is a 15 mile long tributary to the Bitterroot River in western Montana. The main fish species is cutthroat trout with a few brook and bull trout present. There is a good amount of public access in the national forest. The areas I fished appeared to have mostly small sized trout.
	WATCH RACETRACK CREEK Racetrack Creek is a small tribtary to the Clarks Fork River in southwest Montana. While the lower portion is on private land with little public access the upper section flows mostly thru national forest land with 2 primitive campgrounds and either a road or trail following it to its headwaters. Cutthroat trout are the main fish species and it seems like the farther away you get from the easy access points the better the fishing.
	WATCH ROCK CREEK This video describes the first 25 miles of fishing Rock Creek in western Montana. While Rock is definitely a good stream and I did catch a 16 inch brown trout I found it to be too crowded for my preferences. I have heard that as you go further downstream and get closer to Missoula it becomes even more crowded and the fish become better educated and more difficult to catch. I caught more fish, had more fun and saw not a single other angler while fishing the 5 headwater tributary streams to Rock Creek. Perhaps more people should fish those streams.
	WATCH ROCK CREEK EAST FORK The East Fork of Rock Creek offers 18 miles of trout fishing in western Montana. There is an upper section featuring cutthroat and brook trout and a lower section having mostly brown trout and a few rainbows. The fishing pressure on Rock Creek's East Fork is about 500 times less than on the upper section of Rock Creek itself. Maybe that is why the action was so much better on the east fork.
	WATCH ROCK CREEK MIDDLE FORK The Middle Fork of Rock Creek is the largest of the 5 main tributaries forming the headwaters of Rock Creek. It flows for 25 miles and much of its water is shallow and easily fished for rainbow and cutthroat trout and the occasional whitefish. The lower portion of the stream runs thru private land but may still be accessed by bridge crossings. The upper section runs thru national forest land and there is a campground near by.
	WATCH ROCK CREEK WEST FORK This West Fork Rock Creek is the one in western Montana near Missoula. I had good fishing for decent sized cutthroats using my 6'6" 3wt custom spin-fly rod with a #12 bead head black woolly bugger. You can learn more about spin-fly rods by clicking here.
	WATCH ROSS FORK Ross Fork flows for 22 miles thru Western Montana and is one of the 5 main tributaries in the headwaters of the much better known Rock Creek. This stream runs primarily thru private land. To access it you need to first access Rock Creek via the Hwy 38 bridge. Go upstream a short ways and make a right onto the West Fork of Rock Creek. After taking a few casts you then turn left at the next tributary. You will need to stay within the high water mark the whole time. The stream has the same assortment of trout as you might find in Rock Creek.
	WATCH SILVER BOW CREEK Silver Bow Creek flows thru Western Montana for 28 miles before joining with Warm Springs Creek to form the Clark Fork River. Near this point it enters the Anaconda Settling Ponds, used to treat mine pollution. Here there is public access thru a state wildlife area. The lower sections can be deep, slow and swampy but the upper sections tend to be more shallow with a swifter current. The fish density is reported to be 50 fish per mile. That's not much but there are some local anglers who claim it has good fishing if you find the right places. There are still spots where the vegetation won't grow due to mining pollution from years ago. Perhaps in the future the fishing will improve as the stream continues to recover from past mining pollution but in the meantime I would stay away.
	WATCH SKALKAHO & DALY CREEK Skalkaho Creek is a 25 mile long tributary to the Bitterroot River in Western Montana. Skalkaho means "place of the beaver". It's north fork is referred to as Daly Creek, and it is there were I found the best fishing for cutthroat trout.
	WATCH TIN CUP CREEK Tin Cup Creek is a small tributary to the Bitterroot River in Western Montana. There are a variety of trout species present with cutthroats probably being the most numerous. A trail follows it thru national forest land up to its headwaters. I was using my 6'6" 3wt custom spin-fly rod on this day.

Trout Streams East of the Continental Divide

Note these are older videos and of lesser quality than the newer ones.

	WATCH GOLDEN TROUT OF SYLVAN LAKE Sylvan Lake lies in the Beartooth Mountains of south central Montana. It is an ardurous 8 mile hike up a steep incline to reach this jewel of a lake. The reward is plenty of brightly color golden trout averaging 10" to 14". There is some great mountain scenary in this video. One of my most popular films.
	WATCH BEARTOOTH CUTTHROATS, MONTANA On 09/09/2009, I hiked 20 miles round trip into Montana's Beartooth Mountains to catch some cutthroat trout. I fished at Mystic Lake, Huckleberry Lake and Princess Lake. The latter provided good catches of cutthroats on #14 hares ear nymphs and #18 cinnamon ants.
	WATCH UFO BASE STATION IN MONTANA On 09/09/2009 I saw and filmed what appeared to be evidence of an underwater UFO base station in Mystic Lake in the Beartooth/Absaroka Mountains of South Central Montana. Watch the video and decide for yourself.
	WATCH BEARTOOTH BROOKIES ON A DRY FLY September 2009, a 3 mile hike along the Stillwater River in the Beartooth Mountains in south central Montana leads to Sioux Charles Lake. This little mountain lake was just full of colorful brook trout averaging 9"-12". We caught quite a few on floating foam grasshopper immitations. You can see the fish rising to the fly. Sometimes a slight twitch helped to induce a strike.
	WATCH UPPER STILLWATER RIVER, MONTANA This is the upper portion of the Stillwater River in Montana's Beartooth National Forest. As you can see the water isn't very still. Find a calm spot and you will likely catch rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout.
	WATCH STILLWATER RIVER, MONTANA Various scenes of the Stillwater River downstream of the National Forest boundary, 09/2009. This is in south central Montana. There are brown and rainbow trout present up to 18 inches.
	WATCH WEST FORK STILLWATER RIVER, MONTANA The West Fork Stillwater River is, in my experience, a more productive stream than the main Stillwater River. Located near the town of Nye in south central Montana, there are a couple bridge crossings and the stream itself is relatively easy to wade. Brown and rainbow trout are abundant and good sized, up to 15 inches. Brook trout are fairly common but tend to run a little small. I don't think many people fish this little stream.
	WATCH EAST ROSEBUD CREEK, MONTANA The East Rosebud Creek is a very productive and often overlooked freestone stream in south central Montana. It drains out of the Beartooth Mountains and eventually flows north into the Yellowstone River. Rainbow and Brown trout are abundant averaging 12 to 15 inches with larger fish a real posibility. I would recommend fishing here in the early spring before runoff or after August 1.
	WATCH WEST ROSEBUD CREEK, MONTANA Early September, 2009. West Rosebud Creek is full of fish, mostly browns and rainbows from 11"-15" plus a few bigger and some small brook trout. This stream flows north out of the Beartooth Mountains into the Yellowstone River in south central Montana. Several roads cross it and it is easy to wade by late summer. I didn't see anyone else fishing it.
	WATCH GALLATIN RIVER The Gallatin River in south central Montana is well known for its abundance of small to medium sized rainbow trout, convenient accessibility, ease of wading and scenic beauty. The 13" rainbow shown here was taken on a #12 soft hackle hares ear. Filmed on 08/27/10 near the Yellowstone National Park border.
	WATCH BELLY RIVER Fishing the Belly River in Glacier National Park, Montana, August 2009. We caught a few small rainbows but nothing to get excited about. Nonetheless a very scenic river. You have to hike a steep mile down a trail to get to the stream.
	WATCH MCDONALD CREEK McDonald Creek is a very clear, scenic stream in Glacier National Park, Montana. Cutthroats are found throughout its length although only in modest numbers.

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Coppersmith Studios Presents

Fishing Videos of Montana

Trout Streams West of the Continental Divide

Trout Streams East of the Continental Divide