Big Sky
Well-known member
So my adventure started by hanging out in Drummond Montana and creating another coyote hunting episode for FoxPro TV. I was with Al Morris, John Bair, and Matt Piippo. That alone would have been adventure enough as everyone of them is quite the character. We had a blast and managed to put enough coyotes on the ground for a good show. It should debut on Roku, Amazon Prime, and YouTube sometime this week or next. Here is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip.
During the middle of the day Matt made arrangements so that I could do a little westslope cutthroat trout fishing. I've caught a lot of cutthroat trout in Montana but these are my personal bests for size. I won't show every trout I caught, but here are a couple just to give you all an idea of the quality. I was like a kid in a candy store with no budget restraints.
Here is my biggest on of the trip and my personal best westslope cutty ever.
After hunting with the boyz, I headed north to Kalispell to fish with another friend of mine. We headed over to Libby and fished on the Kootenai River. My goal was to catch one of the large rainbow trout the river is famous for and if I was really lucky maybe catch a red ban rainbow trout and a bull trout. I have never caught a bull trout before and they were on my bucket list.
I got this little red ban rainbow the first day.
The biggest trout the first day was this 22 1/2" 4 pound rainbow. Anywhere else I would be crazy excited over this fish, but on the Kootenai it doesn't turn anyone's head. Still I enjoyed catching it and it gave me a heckuva good fight using the current to its full advantage.
The next day we debated whether to go back to the river or head to the Thompson River and fish for brown trout. Brownies are my passion, but I can catch them right here at home. We decided to hit the Kootenai and if fishing was slow we would head for the Thompson around noon. Well the fishing was pretty good on the Kootenai so we ended up staying there all day. I caught a number of smaller fish and lost some huge fish within 10 feet or less of the net. One or two right at the net. I was feeling pretty beat up and discouraged when this little bull trout hit. It's the first one I've ever caught and I was actually very excited to catch it. I set a goal a number of years ago to catch every game fish species recognized by the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Now that I caught this bull trout I only have one species left, a tiger muskie. Right after taking this photo I popped the hook out of his mouth and sent him scurrying back into the river. Hope he grows up to be a giant someday.
My partner was the first to get on board with a big rainbow. He fought this amazing fish for quite a long time before I was able to get it in the net. For anyone wondering every single trout caught in this thread was released. This is one gorgeous monster fish!
Finally towards the end of the day I hooked my fourth big fish. I was praying like crazy that I wouldn't lose this one. You can only imagine my relief when this one found it's way into the net. It is the heaviest rainbow I have caught to date. I have caught one longer, but this one is by far the heaviest. I wish the darn river otters weren't so hard on the fish there. They chew the tails up really bad. It makes these monster fish look like hatchery brood fish, which they absolutely are not. These are hard fighting wild trout that will test all your tackle to it's very limits. One of the big fish I broke off, broke 20 lbs Pline braid! That stuff can pert near raise the Titanic! Anyway I was happy to land this fish and it was the final fish of the second day. Stay tuned for part II after I returned home.
During the middle of the day Matt made arrangements so that I could do a little westslope cutthroat trout fishing. I've caught a lot of cutthroat trout in Montana but these are my personal bests for size. I won't show every trout I caught, but here are a couple just to give you all an idea of the quality. I was like a kid in a candy store with no budget restraints.
Here is my biggest on of the trip and my personal best westslope cutty ever.
After hunting with the boyz, I headed north to Kalispell to fish with another friend of mine. We headed over to Libby and fished on the Kootenai River. My goal was to catch one of the large rainbow trout the river is famous for and if I was really lucky maybe catch a red ban rainbow trout and a bull trout. I have never caught a bull trout before and they were on my bucket list.
I got this little red ban rainbow the first day.
The biggest trout the first day was this 22 1/2" 4 pound rainbow. Anywhere else I would be crazy excited over this fish, but on the Kootenai it doesn't turn anyone's head. Still I enjoyed catching it and it gave me a heckuva good fight using the current to its full advantage.
The next day we debated whether to go back to the river or head to the Thompson River and fish for brown trout. Brownies are my passion, but I can catch them right here at home. We decided to hit the Kootenai and if fishing was slow we would head for the Thompson around noon. Well the fishing was pretty good on the Kootenai so we ended up staying there all day. I caught a number of smaller fish and lost some huge fish within 10 feet or less of the net. One or two right at the net. I was feeling pretty beat up and discouraged when this little bull trout hit. It's the first one I've ever caught and I was actually very excited to catch it. I set a goal a number of years ago to catch every game fish species recognized by the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Now that I caught this bull trout I only have one species left, a tiger muskie. Right after taking this photo I popped the hook out of his mouth and sent him scurrying back into the river. Hope he grows up to be a giant someday.
My partner was the first to get on board with a big rainbow. He fought this amazing fish for quite a long time before I was able to get it in the net. For anyone wondering every single trout caught in this thread was released. This is one gorgeous monster fish!
Finally towards the end of the day I hooked my fourth big fish. I was praying like crazy that I wouldn't lose this one. You can only imagine my relief when this one found it's way into the net. It is the heaviest rainbow I have caught to date. I have caught one longer, but this one is by far the heaviest. I wish the darn river otters weren't so hard on the fish there. They chew the tails up really bad. It makes these monster fish look like hatchery brood fish, which they absolutely are not. These are hard fighting wild trout that will test all your tackle to it's very limits. One of the big fish I broke off, broke 20 lbs Pline braid! That stuff can pert near raise the Titanic! Anyway I was happy to land this fish and it was the final fish of the second day. Stay tuned for part II after I returned home.
