My New Favorite Trout Stream?

Rock Creek might be my new favorite trout stream. It has the three characteristics that I look for in a good trout stream.



Scenery...Rock Creek is a gorgeous trout stream. Its golden waters trickle through the Lolo National Forest in western Montana. The stream provides the angler with countless runs and pools filled with rainbow, brown, brook, cut-throat, and bull trout...Not to mention a good supply of whitefish. The Montana record for whitefish is 21 inches. My brother-in-law above was pretty confident that his whitefish pictured above was near or past that record.



Numbers...For two days over Labor Day Weekend we caught well over 100 fish. There were several times that I fished the same run/pool for 2 hours or more due to the fact that I continued catching fish. Why switch spots when your prey is fighting amongst themselves to gobble your fly? We caught several large rainbows and browns. Although we caught some small trout I would estimate the average size was 16-20 inches. We all experience slow fishing days. I would think a slow day on Rock Creek would still produce 15-20 trout.



Solitude...We fished Rock Creek near Philipsburg MT, about 80 miles southeast of Missoula. A narrow gravel road runs along Rock Creek for about 40 miles. We concentrated our efforts on a 5 mile stretch. We came in contact with only a few other fly-fisherman. With 40 miles of stream to choose from...its easy to get the feeling that you are in a "secret spot" that no one knows about. Even if you are not interested in fishing I would suggest driving this gravel road as its in good shape and would be a great opportunity to view wild life. On the way back to camp on our second day we came upon a moose crossing the road.