The first time I hooked up with a really large fish on the Bighorn I was chest high in my waders bobbing down stream after him trying to keep up before he blew past my backing. This was in the early 1990's and the river had just re-opened after years of closure by the Crow Indians and the fishing was absolutely nuts. Back then it was our secret, today it is everybody's secret. So, you ask, where are some of the other great places that aren't as well discovered? Here are a few in south central Montana near Red Lodge, Montana, one of the best Montana real estate secrets left. In fact it is one of the very best mountain real estate and vacation properties left anywhere in the country.
Two years ago we moved to Red Lodge, Montana to pursue a Montana real estate development called The Spires at Red Lodge because Red Lodge real estate is still some of the best priced resort real estate anywhere in the entire Rocky Mountain region.
Really going in to great detail and giving you the stories that go with each of these streams isn't possible in a short article. As my fishing buddy Randy says, "If I told you everything then I'd have to kill you."
Let's get on with the fishing. Our little smorgasbord begins right in the middle of town, it's a walk to fishing trip; no windshield time whatsoever. Rock Creek is a free stone stream and all of the standard stuff works because these fish don't get worked very hard at all. Go north of town and the fish size increases.
Just a 20 minute drive to the west from The Spires at Red Lodge development along U.S. Highway 78 in Red Lodge is Roscoe, Montana home to the Grizzly Bar. Stop there on the way back from fishing, not on the way up. Go about 4 miles out of Roscoe towards East Rosebud Lake until you cross a wooden bridge. You can park there and walk down, or walk up. Dry flies if they are rising and nymphs and streamers if they aren't. Streamers will be more successful on cloudy days.
If you are in really good shape and want to catch some huge lake bound cutthroat then you can hot foot hike out of East Rosebud Canyon up to a lake known as Arch Lake. Of all of the dozens of lakes in the million acre Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness this is perhaps the finest and with the largest average size of trout. Of course this is a 2,500 vertical foot hike straight up out of the East Rosebud valley so it is not for the faint of heart and you are scrambling on large boulders and scree fields a lot.
Take 78 west for another 14 miles past Roscoe and you arrive in Absarokee. Go west out of Absarokee along the Stillwater River. It is best to fish it from a raft and pullover to fish the runs, but you can do alright wading from bridge areas as well. It is great grasshopper and terrestrial fishing in late July and all of August. In the spring and fall it's back to streamers and nymphs. This river gets a lot less pressure than the western Montana streams.
For another great high mountain lake head south out of Red Lodge on Highway 212 and turn right up the Glacier Lake Road, near the base of the Beartooth Pass. After about 7 miles of slow going dirt road you will arrive at the base of the Glacier Lake trail head. The trail is a two mile grunt up to 9,000-plus feet out of the parking lot. There are some very large cutthroats, especially along the cliffs on the western shore. You'll need a sink tip line to fish with flies or a weighted line with a bunch of worms on a treble to go after the big one down deep. Just get it down deep and reel it back slow.
The legendary Bighorn is only about 90 minutes from downtown Red Lodge which makes some of the best tailwater fishing in all of Montana really accessible as a day trip, which is pretty cool.
The Bighorn River is only about 90 minutes away from Red Lodge across the Crow Indian reservation from Pryor, Montana and is probably one of the best tail water damn fisheries in the State, but it is usually quite crowded (I say this tongue in cheek because it is crowded by Westerners standards but not by many others).
You really can't beat the uncrowded experience that goes with Montana fishing. For skiing, biking, hiking, rafting, golfing, bird hunting, golf, and tons of other recreation it is tough to beat Red Lodge. This is why a few years back we decided to make a significant investment in Red Lodge Montana real estate. They just don't make it like this anymore and the world keeps growing.
Two years ago we moved to Red Lodge, Montana to pursue a Montana real estate development called The Spires at Red Lodge because Red Lodge real estate is still some of the best priced resort real estate anywhere in the entire Rocky Mountain region.
Really going in to great detail and giving you the stories that go with each of these streams isn't possible in a short article. As my fishing buddy Randy says, "If I told you everything then I'd have to kill you."
Let's get on with the fishing. Our little smorgasbord begins right in the middle of town, it's a walk to fishing trip; no windshield time whatsoever. Rock Creek is a free stone stream and all of the standard stuff works because these fish don't get worked very hard at all. Go north of town and the fish size increases.
Just a 20 minute drive to the west from The Spires at Red Lodge development along U.S. Highway 78 in Red Lodge is Roscoe, Montana home to the Grizzly Bar. Stop there on the way back from fishing, not on the way up. Go about 4 miles out of Roscoe towards East Rosebud Lake until you cross a wooden bridge. You can park there and walk down, or walk up. Dry flies if they are rising and nymphs and streamers if they aren't. Streamers will be more successful on cloudy days.
If you are in really good shape and want to catch some huge lake bound cutthroat then you can hot foot hike out of East Rosebud Canyon up to a lake known as Arch Lake. Of all of the dozens of lakes in the million acre Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness this is perhaps the finest and with the largest average size of trout. Of course this is a 2,500 vertical foot hike straight up out of the East Rosebud valley so it is not for the faint of heart and you are scrambling on large boulders and scree fields a lot.
Take 78 west for another 14 miles past Roscoe and you arrive in Absarokee. Go west out of Absarokee along the Stillwater River. It is best to fish it from a raft and pullover to fish the runs, but you can do alright wading from bridge areas as well. It is great grasshopper and terrestrial fishing in late July and all of August. In the spring and fall it's back to streamers and nymphs. This river gets a lot less pressure than the western Montana streams.
For another great high mountain lake head south out of Red Lodge on Highway 212 and turn right up the Glacier Lake Road, near the base of the Beartooth Pass. After about 7 miles of slow going dirt road you will arrive at the base of the Glacier Lake trail head. The trail is a two mile grunt up to 9,000-plus feet out of the parking lot. There are some very large cutthroats, especially along the cliffs on the western shore. You'll need a sink tip line to fish with flies or a weighted line with a bunch of worms on a treble to go after the big one down deep. Just get it down deep and reel it back slow.
The legendary Bighorn is only about 90 minutes from downtown Red Lodge which makes some of the best tailwater fishing in all of Montana really accessible as a day trip, which is pretty cool.
The Bighorn River is only about 90 minutes away from Red Lodge across the Crow Indian reservation from Pryor, Montana and is probably one of the best tail water damn fisheries in the State, but it is usually quite crowded (I say this tongue in cheek because it is crowded by Westerners standards but not by many others).
You really can't beat the uncrowded experience that goes with Montana fishing. For skiing, biking, hiking, rafting, golfing, bird hunting, golf, and tons of other recreation it is tough to beat Red Lodge. This is why a few years back we decided to make a significant investment in Red Lodge Montana real estate. They just don't make it like this anymore and the world keeps growing.
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Here is why Red Lodge real estate may be one of the best buys anywhere if you love to fish.
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