This last 2025 season marked over a quarter century that I’ve been rowing guests down our Montana rivers. Every year brings a new set of challenges. I recently had Lasik eye surgery and my distance vision is awesome. Now I’ll be able to see a brown trout sip a midge at 300 yards for my happy dry fly guests.
The Bitterroot, Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Missouri rivers started fishing with a bang early in the Spring of 2025. March and April on the Bitterroot and Missouri were fun productive months. With the 2025 snowpack leaving quickly spring runoff didn’t really show up. We fished right through typical high water season here on the Bitterroot and Clark Fork in May. Normally in May and June we exodus to the Mighty Missouri near Craig Montana for huge bows and browns. The Blackfoot was also excellent in late May into early July with an amazing salmon and golden stone fly hatch happening there. We also had an epoch Green Drake hatch on the Bitterroot in late June that had lights out fishing for a few days.
The Nature Spirit, Napi, the Trinity, the Big guy upstairs, Shinto, the Green man, whatever deity you believe in pulled the plug on our rivers in late July. We had another consecutive drought year and things got tougher. We canceled/ postponed guide trips on the Blackfoot especially from mid summer until fall when water temps cooled. Quite a few local outfitters, including us, chose to not pressure our fishery. With trout being a cold water species their survival rate drops abundantly when they are caught and handled when water temps hit that 68 to 70 degree Fahrenheit make. Let’s hope we have lots of snowpack with consequentially more water in our rivers this coming 2026 season. Rain Dance people! We are positive and excited for 2026. Our Spring and early Summer bookings are strong. After that we still have trips booked and we’ll see how it plays out while always hoping for the best outcome. Thankfully Painted Rocks Reservoir, the headwaters of the Bitterroot, feeds cool water into the valley for irrigation and trout survival usually through August. Which leads to our next topic.
NO SHEEP CREEK MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For a few years now there has been a proposed mine called the Sheep Creek mine that is receiving attention. This proposed rare earth mineral mine unfortunately lies at the head waters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot river. Of course the people implementing the mine claim that there would be no ill affects downstream. A couple of weeks ago we had a meeting about the development of this mine, pros and cons/ with the mine representatives, the general public, and our Ravalli County commissioners. The mining company has been quite recently and tried to sneak this meeting in under a FAST program that super cedes environmental protection. We called people, emailed, spread awareness through social media, and had over 700 local Bitterroot residents show up to this meeting. Everyone who lives here for the most part expressed opposition to this project. The fight is far from over but we need to decide what is important for quality of life in the Bitterroot valley and all the way downstream to the Pacific ocean.
When rare earth minerals are extracted asbestos, cyanide, uranium, and other volatile minerals are released into the air, water, roads, trees, creeks, and so forth just by hauling these ore deposits in trucks. This mine would be an eco disaster in my opinion. It would provide very few jobs, these so called job positions would be pre filled with out of state employees who already work for the incoming mining co. This mining operation would jeopardize the entire Bitterroot river system where we depend on irrigation for crops, drinking water, ecology for fish and wildlife, tourism, the list goes on and on. In the past dozens of mining companies, mostly of Canadian origin, have set up and operated mines across MT. These mines have shell companies set up to file bankruptcy, dissolve, hide profits and protect themselves after all the precious materials have been taken. Pegasus gold was one of them. Entire river sheds and their downstream ecosystems have been destroyed with poisonous arsenic, cyanide, copper, and other deadly mineral bi products. Research Mike Horse dam east of Lincoln MT for an example. We taxpayers then have to fund these billion dollar cleanup efforts to hopefully resurrect and recover these eco disasters that lined some billionaire out of state bank accounts at the public’s expense. These companies have a terrible track record. I’m not opposed to mining, mine in safer areas. We just can’t operate mines in pristine wilderness areas that risk destroying the entire watershed and livelihood for humans and wildlife.
I remember standing probably too close to the Clark Fork river in Deer Lodge over 53 years ago. As I watched the river run red/brown with copper pollution I asked my dad if we could fish there. His reply was “No son, we can’t fish here, the mine and smelter here poisoned the river and nothing lives here anymore, we’ll have to drive up high in the mountains where the streams are clear to catch some trout.” It’s our public land, we need to preserve and protect it and all that lies downstream.
Thanks again for everyone’s support. 2026 is going to be one for the books.
Have a Merry Christmas a Joyful Holiday season and a Happy New Year from Sandy, myself, my family, and our guides from Troutzoola Montana Fly Fishing.
We are looking forward to seeing you soon.
