CDT: Fishing Break

Disappointed the boys weren’t able to join me on the CDT due to the fire closure. But they did come equipped for a fishing trip for a few days.

We took Sourdough to Dillon MT for a quicker hitch for him to pick up his car in Dillon. We then headed back to Grasshopper Creek near Bannock State Park for a morning of fantastic flyfishing.

After picking up supplies in Dillon, we headed east on a gravel road to Blacktail Creek and enjoyed good fishing. The big fish for the day – an 18″ brown trout. We camped near the creek and had a great night of bratwurst, beverages and a rousing game of Hearts. Woke up to perhaps the coldest night yet and a chorus of sandhill cranes.

More good fishing on the Blacktail then continued on sketchy, rough, dirt roads through the Robb and Ledford Creek drainages. We fished tiny Ledford Creek for small browns and then a nice section of the main Ruby River for bigger rainbow, cutbows, and brook trout. Kevin lost the big one of the day that snapped his fly off in a snag of underwater tree roots.

We continued east on through the Centennial Valley and Red Rocks Lake. There were nice views of the Centennial Mountains I hiked after leaving Lima. We finally turned towards the trees and a nice campsite past Elk Lake.

The next morning, after a nice bagel/egg/sausage combo prepared by Ryan, we loaded up the back of his old 2WD Dodge Dakota with rocks to improve traction on the steep, rough sections of road back to the main Red Rock Lake road. Worked like a charm and we headed on to Red Rock Creek where we had excellent fishing for grayling, cutthroat and brookies. I almost landed a 20″ cutthroat – what a battle! Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at the Red Rock Wildlife Management Office.

After nearly 200 miles of gravel, sand and dirt roads, we exited near Lima MT and headed north to Dell. We turning off on Big Sheep Creek and found a nice creekside camping area. The boys had a nice evening of fishing for browns while I enjoyed a nap.

Back to the trail tomorrow!