Pictures and specimens from my 2018 Montana trip

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

By Troutnut on June 12th, 2019, 3:16 pm

I finally got around to uploading all the photos from a fishing & bug photography trip I took to Montana (and the surrounding area in Idaho and Wyoming) in August 2018. For the first ten days, I fished by myself from dawn to dusk, slept in my car, and got off the water only long enough to drive to the next fishing spot. It was a whirlwind tour of the famous waters of the West and many not-so-famous ones, sometimes stopping for just a few hours to wet a line in a river that takes a lifetime to master. I'll be back again to concentrate my efforts.

It might be a while (or never) before I have time to go through and narrate each day of the trip on the front page blog, so for now I'll just suggest browsing those posts and letting the pictures tell the story. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Firehole River, where cold mountain water meets hot geyers in what Ernest Schwiebert rightfully called "The Strangest Trout Stream on Earth."

My biggest cutthroat trout to date, an 18-incher from a stream that shall not be named:

A herd of bison crossing the Yellowstone River:

A Rock Creek cuttbow that put up one hell of a fight for its size:

Another gorgeous cuttbow from a stream I'm keeping secret, this one with mostly "bow" and less "cutt":

My personal best brook trout, fat and almost 16" long, from the same river:

And a stately caddisfly from the Henry's Fork:

Enjoy!

«Older: March 19th, 2019 Newer: Pursuing Golden Trout with my Wife»

Most recent comments on this post (latest on top)

Wbranch	June 25th, 2019, 4:27 pm
York & Starlight PA Posts: 2733	It would of been a shame to kill that big brookie. Just a great fish and something many guys will never catch that big unless they travel to the northern woods of Maine or Labrador.
	Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.

Martinlf	June 24th, 2019, 11:54 am
Moderator Palmyra PA Posts: 3233	Cool, Jason. Thanks!
	"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell

Troutnut	June 18th, 2019, 8:43 pm
Administrator Bellevue, WA Posts: 2737	You know of course that Montana Fish and Wildlife consider the Eastern Brook Trout an invasive species and in many waters they compete with wild cutties and anglers are requested to kill the brook trout. Yeah, I'm aware. I released this one, because brook trout are there to stay in this drainage. There are native cutts above an impassible barrier higher up.
	Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Jmd123	June 18th, 2019, 7:46 am
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611	WOW!!!
	No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

Creno	June 14th, 2019, 10:35 am
Grants Pass, OR Posts: 305	Nice pics of nice fish and places - and a stately caddis indeed. A Grammotaulius lorettae Denning 1941 female.

Read 2 more comments in the forum »

Comment on this post

You must log in at the top of the page to post. If you haven't registered yet, it's this easy: