NWCC - SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Graph

Bitterroot River Basin is at 95% - good news.
NWCC - SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Graph

MONTANA SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Feb 2013

Snow pack in the Bitterroot is 82% of normal as of today, Feb 25, 2013. Right now, a winter snow storm just blew in and there is a white-out outside my office window. That is GREAT news! Here are the tables showing the data. See the links below the photos for the NRCS site.

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/snowup-graph.pl?state=MT

 
ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/mt_swepctnormal_update.pdf

2013 Feb skiing Gash Peak in Montana

The top of the climb

Winter in Montana is a wonderful time to explore the Bitterroots. Mark, Skip and Jack skinned up the Bitterroots in the Gash Creek and Peak area in mid-February. Here are a few photos taken by Mark. Enjoy. Here is the slideshow

Fresh snow in the Bitterroot Mountains this morning

Taken west of Victor, Montana looking west at Totem Peaks and Bear Creek drainage. New snow means more water for the rivers this summer.

Northern Pike fishing adventure on the lower Bitterroot River with Jack Mauer

Jack Mauer fishes for a living, but what does he do on his day off? He gets up early and goes fishing for Northern Pike. His favorite spot is a section in the lower Bitterroot (exact location is undisclosed at this writing). For this short but productive float, he has permission to put in on private land and takes out at the next public access point. I get invited along for many reasons: photography, dog handler for our 6 month old Chesapeake puppy, and last but not least, rower of the boat when we get to pike territory.

Northern Pike, or pike, or northerns, are native to Montana but only in the Saskatchewan River drainage on the east side of Glacier Park. They have been illegally introduced in many areas and are now present in every drainage west of the Divide. A highly piscivorous animal, they feed on fish and also eat other vertebrates such as frogs. Northern pike threaten native game and non game fish in the area and popular sport fish like rainbow and brown trout.

With a long skinny head they have large teeth on the side of their mouth, and rows of many small teeth inside their mouth. They don’t chew their food, they just swallow it whole. Characteristics of the pike are: light markings on a darker green body, lower half of the cheek completely scaled; five or fewer pores on each side of the underside of the jaw; and rounded tail tips.

Pike especially like lakes and reservoirs, but on the Bitterroot River they are found in the warmer, slower water. Weeds are used for camouflage while hiding and waiting for food to float or swim by. They tend to live in water which is less than 15 feet deep, near a backwater area and close to shore. A submerged log in about 7 feet of water is another prime hang out spot for Pike. Because the Bitterroot is Jack’s home river, he has located the buckets of water where the pike are and can row directly to them.

When fishing for northerns, it might be a good idea to use a steel leader (a short piece of steel line). The pike's sharp teeth will cut easily through most fishing regular fishing line. Jack uses an 85 pound test hard monofilament tippet with a very bright streamer that has 2 hooks.

The idea of the streamer is to try to imitate the features of baitfish and minnows, which are what pike naturally feed upon. Since Pike seek their prey by sight, it is important for the streamer to move, so active artificial movement or live bait movement is very important. Anchor the boat above the holding water so you can cast to the bottom end of the bucket and retrieve your line through it and past the pike. Jack fished both deep (with a streamer that sinks and swims) and more on the surface (with a streamer/fly that didn’t sink as well). In both cases, he casts out about 60 feet or more, hopefully beyond the pikes position. Then he retrieves his line with a subtle jerking motion and some pauses in between twitches. The goal is to attract the attention of the pike and make it think his streamer is injured prey. Sometimes after hooking a pike, he saw other pike chasing it to the boat looking for their own meal.

After hooking and reeling in the pike, Jack uses a huge pair of needle nosed pliers to get his streamer and hook out of that nasty looking mouth.

Unlike fishing for trout, you want a bright day to fish for pike. If the water is smooth, meaning not much wind, and the sun is at an angle instead of right above you, you can see this distinctive fish in the water. This might be obvious, but sighting a pike makes it much easier to cast to.

Small northern pike remain in shallow weedy water through much of the year. In mid-summer, forage reaches peak abundance and the fish remain active. Large northern pike move deeper as summer progresses and water temperatures warm, seeking oxygenated water of 65 degrees or cooler. Large northern pike become lethargic in warm water, eating little and sometimes losing weight. For these reasons northern pike fishing falls off in warmer weather.

Jack has more time to fish for pike, and in addition on the lower Bitterroot River there is often the opportunity for good trico fishing. It makes for a great day with a wide variety of fishing styles, i.e. fishing a No. 18-20 trico dry fly on 6X tippet versus a larger, flashy streamer with 85 test monofilament tippet and a heavier rod.

Northern Pike are exceptionally good to eat, with firm, white flesh. The bigger fish are easier to bone and except for one troublesome Y-shaped bone, the Pike is relatively easy to filet. You can serve it many ways including grilled, fried, and baked using whatever seasonings and sauces you like. Jack isn’t much of a fish eater but he has a number of friends that like to eat the pike so he gives them away. That is a win/win for the trout in the river and his friends.

This aggressive and voracious fish attacks the lures or flies and puts up a great fight making the catching a thrill. Northern pike can grow to nearly 40 pounds in Montana and provide an outstanding sport and food fish in the appropriate waters. Pike are caught not only for sport but also to help get them out of inappropriate waters. Because of their voracious fish-eating habits they can literally eliminate their food supply in only a few years, leaving a population of terminally-stunted "hammerhandles." This is why widespread illegal pike introductions in western Montana have become a fishery manager's nightmare. So, go ahead, get out there, harvest a few pike and help Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks with removal of unwanted populations!

To see all the photos in a new window, click Jack's Trico/Pico fishing day.

Resources and links

Billings, Montana Pike Fishing Club called Pike Masters

Montana, Fish Wildlife and Parks Field Guide for Northern Pike and Northern Pike Education Page
I only found a few articles on strategies for pike fishing. Below is a link to an article from Game & Fish Magazine with useful information on pike and how to fish for them.
Northern Pike Strategies by Jim Barta from Michigan - If you are a northern pike fanatic, the author has a few weapons you should consider adding to your arsenal.

Fly fishing the Bitterroot River with Mike and Marty

Jack fished the Bitterroot River on September 10 with two great friends, Mike and Marty. Here is one of the trout Marty caught.

The second photo shows a view of the smoke from the Kootenai Fire. We are fortunate this year, not many fires meaning cleaner air.

Bitterroot River and Valley Weather

The photo to the right is from May 11 at Victor Crossing which is about the middle of the Bitterroot. You can see that it is fairly clear and big, but not bank-full or in the run-off stage.

The weather this spring has been cool, cool, cool. The photo below was taken May 12. Yes, it was snowing. The snow-pack in the mountains is growing not shrinking.

Take a look at the weather widget to the right in the sidebar. It is forecasted to be 85 degrees this Sunday and Monday. That is going to be interesting!

Jack and Casey went to the Clearwater Chain of Lakes yesterday. It was cold and a bit windy but they caught some pike. No camera, so I can't post any photos of that trip.

Tomorrow, Jack is going to the Missouri River to fish near Craig, Montana. It might still be cool and windy, but we will find out how the fishing is.

Stay tuned for a look at our rivers. I will be posting photos when I can.

See the sidebar for links to USGS water data and if you go near the rivers, please be very careful. The water is very, very cold, approximately 38 degrees.

It snowed today.

Click on the photo for a larger view in a new window - it is worth it.

We woke up to snow today. We were hoping for cooler weather to keep the snow in the mountains but this is a bit much. Like Jack said, "It isn't going to flood in April this year." The cool weather this spring will help the snow melt in an orderly fashion, if it warms up enough to actually melt!

Today we took a hike when it was the warmest, about 47 degrees. At the beginning of our hike, we saw a herd of elk. What a nice start. Then we hiked into a bit of a snow flurry.

Our Last Snow Hoorah for Wapiti Waters

The last 8 days or so we have had a snowy cold spell that provided us some backcountry/crosscountry skiing. This weather also gave us a boost in moisture stored high in the mountains waiting for spring run-off.


Next week, the weather is predicted to warm up to near 50 degrees. That is nice, not TOO warm. We are planning to scout the river and we have a few fishing dates on the calendar, too. The end of March and April are booking up nicely. We will be posting blogs to show you how the fishing shapes up.

In honor of old man winter, here are some photos of our last ski days. We hiked/climbed to get to the snow, but it was worth it! Soon, we will be sitting in the boat and there won't be as much time for cardio-fitness.

Some days we used touring ski's other days we used backcountry gear. We are fortunate to live in the Bitterroots. Great outdoor fun all year long.


Yesterday was cold, about 17 to 20 degrees, but the sun was brilliant. That might have been our last mountain snow day.

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Winter in the Bitterroot - What a Show

I am sharing photos of the Bitterroot valley, river and mountains in December. View the slide show or click on it to view the web album.

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We had rain, then snow, then FREEZING COLD, then rain, more snow...a very unusual early winter. There is a lot of moisture, much beauty, and I need to mention the avalanche danger again. We will all be eager to get out to ski the backcountry. Please check the avalanche site for western Montana before you go. Be safe.

Bitterroot Snowpack and Avalanche Advisory Site

I revisited a great site today. We have had new snow, now it is warming up. I wondered what information I could find about our Bitterroot snowpack. As I have said before, for fly fishing, snowpack is a huge indicator of what to expect in our upcoming season. We also want to recreate and be safe. See below and click on the hotlinks for more information.

Happy Holidays! This is Steve Karkanen at the West Central Montana Avalanche Center with the avalanche advisory for December 29th, 2008.

Please read the above link if you plan on skiing in western Montana. Danger is HIGH.

Remember the adage, be careful what you ask for? Well, we're getting what we've been asking for. The problem is that it's coming in a way that our current basal snowpack layers cannot support....

....The good news is that the new snow has been coming in gradually with a slow warm up. The weak layer near the rain crust is gaining strength over time and is adjusting quite well to each storm that slowly adds weight to it. The bad news is the cold temperatures we've experienced the past 2 weeks has allowed the weak granular sugary snow around the crust to persist so when we receive a storm that drops a lot of weight (several inches of snow or any amount of rain) it won't be able to adjust fast enough to be safe. The really bad news is that the forecast is calling for a warm up with significant snowfall and wind perhaps even rain at some mountain locations this weekend.

To learn more, visit http://www.missoulaavalanche.org/events/ for classes and films showing in the Missoula area. BE SAFE!!!

Jack and I have been cross country skiing almost every day. Here is a slideshow from yesterday.

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If you are going out for a back country ski, tell people where you are going and when you expect to be back. Visit this link for Weather Forecast and Avalanche Outlook in the Missoula and Bitterroot area.

A Little Snow a Few Days Ago - and Snowing Today

Not only do we love a good snow pack in the mountains for next year's fishing, we enjoy recreating in it. These photos are from a hike on December 20. We are off for our first cross country ski this afternoon. It has been snowing for 24 hours and now that our office work is done for the day, we are heading out for that much anticipated ski!

Skiing was great! Temp was about 12 degrees C. and no wind. See the slideshow below.

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