Season:
Our season kicks off in earnest around the middle of June and continues well into October.
Species:
The Kootenai River is a tailwater and primarily a rainbow trout fishery and these fish are noted as being particularly hard-fighting and acrobatic. The Kootenai also supports a population of westslope cutthroat trout, a handful of brown trout, mountain whitefish, and while we can't target them, a great population of bull trout as well. The Clark Fork River is a terrific rainbow and westslope cutthroat fishery as well.
Region/Terrain:
This northwest corner of Montana is much more like the Pacific Northwest. It's a place of dense, coniferous forests and has some of the lowest elevations in the state. It's exceptionally beautiful to this end, since the rivers are at 3000 feet in elevation and the mountains rise immediately to 5000-9000 feet from valley floor. The towns are small and the people are friendly. The Kootenai River is a big, broad, tailwater fishery best and most efficiently fished from a drift boat. The fishery begins at the Libby Dam and we have over 40 miles of fishable water down to the border of Idaho. The Clark Fork River is also a big river best fished from a drift boat. The section we fish offers over 50 miles of terrific water beginning below the Alberton Gorge to the confluence of the Flathead River.
Typical Weather:
For the most part, we have terrific summer and fall weather. We get lots of sunshine with daytime temperatures in the 80s during June, July, August, and the first two weeks of September. By early fall, morning temperatures are in the 40s and daytime temperatures are in the 50-60 degree range. Since our river bottom elevations are so low, we don't really see snow or nasty weather until well into December.