This is the peak of tourist season, the freeways (all two of them) seem crowded by comparison, but once off them onto the state highways it is remarkable how little traffic and people you encounter. And once off paved roads, it's possible to drive 20 or more miles without seeing another vehicle. This is the part of Montana I love.
I got back yesterday from the latest trip, just in time for Evel Knievel Days......Butte's annual 'celebration' of a famous son. It's one of Butte's less-attractive features; a weekend devoted to a man who those that knew him say was a liar, cheat, and drunken bum. I've yet to meet anyone who knew him who liked him. He seems to have had no redeeming qualities, yet a weekend is devoted to him. But I digress.
I have been fishing on these trips, mostly small streams; tributaries of the rivers still much higher flow than usual. Some have been quite good; rainbows and brookies mostly.
In a normal summer, these small streams get quite small, and the fish go downstream to larger water. This year, there are a lot of reasons to fish them: few or no other anglers and good-sized trout.
I plan on leaving early next week on another trip, north to the area of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. I've heard of a creek that is "fulla cutthroat", a statement I've heard before, and learned to distrust. We'll see. But signs like this add spice to fishing:
