lorney

Visited Colin Lake, Pots Lake and Charles Lake North with them. Loved the do it yourself style trips and wish they were still in business. First two trips were to cabins with everything run off propane. Last trip was after they had converted over to solar panels and basic electricity for certain things. Can’t remember for sure but I believe it powered lights and the fridge. I think I remember him telling me they had converted most over but can’t say with certainty. Will have to look through old pics to see what I have. Like the last post said the cabins were fairly rustic by comfortable and had everything you needed to be comfortable.

You read it correct. No bait allowed and you can’t keep any fish.

Use a cradle all the time. Best way I have found to deal with big pike. I use mine by myself but like fishpro said it isn't the easiest. If you hold it at one end and let the two ends cross over each other it usually opens up enough at the other end to get the head of the pike going in. Lots of room for the fish. Lots of room to work if he takes the fly deep.

Thanks for sharing your trip. Looks like you had fun. Very satisfying to plan out a trip like that and have everything work out.

Haha I wasn’t serious. I got no problems with the pic.

I think the way you are pulling up on the line, pulling his head out of the water is kinking his neck. Bet that fish didn’t swim straight for a week.

Thanks for sharing.

Are you talking about Prussian carp? There are lots in lake Newell and Rolling Hills reservoir. Caught my first one about three years ago and it was about half the size of my hand. Saw hundreds of them a few weeks ago and they are the size of footballs.

That's great to see. Thanks for the pics Gary. I will have to make it down there to check it out. Perfect tribute for a great guy.

Haven't been down there in a few years. Have they fixed the road to the upper falls? Can you drive past them to access above the falls?

Use the Berkley Nylon coated wire. You can make your own leaders with it any length you want. I have never had one break or come apart on me. Just make a loop at the end, twist tag end around main leader wire and melt together. 30ft spool costs about $4-5 and you can buy the Berkley snap swivels to go with them if you want to change flies.

Rescue is done in the spring. This year a fisheries biologist was there and he brought along some equipment to help in the rescue (no electrofishing equipment). The biologist was there through the whole process to document everything and take pictures. He coordinated everything on site and was probably the hardest working guy out there. Great to see him get involed with this effort. Every fish we moved back to the lake was measured and data was recorded. I never recieved any of the data but someone else on here may have. I know we moved over 300 fish back to the lake and there were some big ones. With the aid of the biologist we installed a fence in spring below the spill way to try and contain the fish in the pool so they would not go down stream. Once run off had basically stopped we went out a couple times to catch the fish and move them back up the hill to the lake. There were quite a few volunteers out there to help and an ATV was used to move the fish back up the hill. The holding pool was pumped out to ensure we got all the fish. The fence was removed and water was pumped back into the pool at the request of the farmer as his cattle drink from it.

Link not working for me.

Just read online that a Montana State fishing license is required. Doesn't look like you need any other park license like you do here in Canada. Let us know how you make out if you go.

Did the hike up to Sperry Glacier quite a few years ago. Up near the glacier there is a set of stairs carved out of stone wall and a rope attached to the side. Wind funnels real hard down those stairs and you pretty much need to hold onto the rope to keep from getting blown back down the stairs. I remember passing another couple on the trail that had rods with them. I asked how the fishing was and they said good. Not sure if they were fishing a stream or a lake up there though. I also remember stopping at either Sprague Creek or Snyder Creek and watching cutthroat in the pools close to where it empties into Lake McDonald. Beautiful park and well maintained from what I remember. I do remember asking at the park office how much a fishing license was and she looked at me like I was crazy. She kind of laughed and said you don't need a fishing license to fish in the park. I have no idea if she was right or not or if it is still that way. I never fished while I was there.