Bitterroot Beauties

I spent the last 10 days at Montana Outwest Outfitters lodge in the bitterroot valley.  This wasn't a guided trip or anything, I am just fortunate enough to be close with the family who own and operate the outfit and get to go celebrate every year over the 4th of July with them on the river.  The average day up there is how I picture heaven; wake up in the morning and stumble 30 ft out of my cabin and onto the river.  Fish for a few minutes until you land two or three west slopes, then walk over to the lodge and get breakfast.  After breakfast we load up on a quad and drive up to the beaver ponds on the end of the property.  Fish those runs for a few hours, then come back for lunch.  Life doesn't get much better.  The bitterroot is a truly remarkable river.  Not only is the scenery beautiful, but the fishing is amazing.  I can honestly say that dry fly fishing is as productive, if not more, than any other form of fishing.  The fish seem to always be looking up.  The fish on the upper stretches of the river aren't too large this time of year, biggest one I landed was 15", but the sheer number of fish make up for any lack of size.  The technicality of dry fly fishing in the area also made every strike extremely rewarding.  The river was scattered with down timber causing many fast and intertwining riffles.  These seams were extremely productive and fun to fish, yet the perfect drift was not easy.  My fly of choice was the trusty elk hair caddis, if it got too fast to fish a small caddis, then I bumped up to a madam X or golden stone. Here is a nice cuttie I pulled out of fast water on the caddis.