Craig with a Bitterroot Trout

Lyle with a Bitterroot Trout

Craig and Lyle are from the Bitterroot but both now live out of state. They like to come back to the valley to visit Craig's father, Terry, attend the annual Trout Unlimited Banquet, and fish, fish, and fish! They enjoy fishing with a number of different guides and outfitters and we all appreciate that. They took most of the photos in the album/slideshow below. Thanks for sharing your photos with us. Jack had a great time fishing with you both. Hope to see you next year, same time, same place. For those interested in more about the Bitter Root Chapter of Trout unlimited click BRTU Blog.

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Little people love to fish, too

We love taking kids fishing, but there are certain clients that we have the most fun with. Connell's are some of our favorite people to fish with and when we can get great client's kids interested in fishing, that is a banner day. Matthew came up to visit Grandma and Grandpa this summer and got to actually catch some fish, not just be in the boat. Thanks to guide Eddie Olwell for these photos of Matthew. Isn't he just the cutest fisherman you have ever seen? I think he might be 'hooked.'

October day on the middle Bitterroot River 2011

Jack and our dog, Freda, in the Koffler drift boat

Seven photos from today on the Bitterroot. There were lots of trout, just didn't take fish photos. We were too busy catching...not a bad thing.. Lots of hatches, noses, targets to shoot to, many fish caught. I did well on the small and medium sized trout. As you can see in the photos, there was little to no wind which was helpful for me. Presentation and drift were everything. I was getting much more accurate casting the small bug on this calm day and resetting to get a good drift, but I need practice on bringing in the 20 inchers on 5X. Today I got practice. Only got one of five big fish opportunities in the net. That is why they call it "fishing" and not "catching." I am willing to practice every chance I get!

Fishing the Bitterroot early October in the rain

Early October...Rachel likes fishing so much, she bundles up and heads out no matter what the weather.These are two different (yet similar) trout.

Fishing the middle Bitterroot river in early October

Four friends visited the valley the first week of October. They rode bikes on the Hiawatha Trail near the Montana/Idaho border one day, hiked a couple of days, and fished a couple of days. The first fishing day was shorts and sandal weather. The second fishing day (the very next day) was rainy and cold. They wore waders, rain gear, hats and gloves. Both days fishing days were great fun, just in different ways.

I didn't go on the fishing/floats but I have some photos from near and at the take out points. I am hoping our friends send me some of their photos when they get back home to Georgia and Arizona (where I am hoping they are much warmer).

The Big Hole River in late August

These photos are from the Big Hole in August, but I just found out I can share them. So, here they are. Jack loves fishing the Big Hole and so do KJ and Tom. They drove over from near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and spent a few days with their family. They fished a couple of days with Jack, too.

See below for a slideshow of five photos.

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Lower Bitterroot in mid-September

Paul was back in the valley this month. He brought his nephew along in the boat with Jack. Again, nice fish were caught on this beautiful day. We had fires in the Bitterroot and near Missoula, but as you can see, the air quality was good.

Bitterroot River in early September

Catching up on a few photos from early September. Gary and his friend fished with Jack years and years ago on the Big Hole River. This September, Jack had an opportunity to guide them on the Blackfoot and Bitterroot. This REALLY fat cutthroat was caught by Gary on the Bitterroot River.

Hope they come back next year. It was nice weather, great fishing and fun to catch up.

Important dates in September for trout

• 9/10 Bitterroot River Cleanup 10 am to 4 pm followed by BBQ for volunteers at Anglers Roost (south of Hamilton). Call Don at 406-363-3146 
• 9/14/17 National TU's Annual Meeting in Bend, Oregon Visit www.tu.org for details and registration.
• 9/23 32 Annual Bitterroot TU Banquet 5 pm at Bitterroot River Inn in Hamilton, Montana. Contact Marshall Bloom at 406-363-3485 of drtrout@mtbloom.net. 
• 9/24 Montana TU's State Council Meeting 9:30 am at the Double Tree in Missoula. Contact Kate Grant at 406-543-0054 or kate@montanatu.org.

Great September fishing on the Clark Fork River west of Missoula

Trout from the Clark Fork River - beautiful!

This has been a crazy summer for many people for many reasons. Mike fishes with Jack quite a bit each summer. He and his wife have a home in Hamilton. This summer, they had to be out of Montana more than usual. Today, Wapiti Waters floated Mike and some friends on the Clark Fork and you never know how it might fish. They hit it just right. Mike said it was one of the best days he has had on a Montana River. His friend, Jim, thanked Jack for sharing that day on the river with him. They deserved a great day and got it. Thanks to the fishing gods and the recovery of the Clark Fork after removing Milltown Dam.

Shields on the Big Hole and the Blackfoot Rivers in August

Brown trout caught by Jim

Jim and Naomi fished with Jack a few weeks in July. Now these photos are from August when they came back to fish the Big Hole and the Blackfoot rivers. What is great about the Shields is that they have fun no matter what the weather or the fishing have to offer. But, as you can see here, they always catch really nice trout. I have to say either Naomi catches more trout, or Jim takes more photos...not sure which. Jack sure had a good time fishing with them.

See more photos in the slideshow below.

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Dr. Fauci fishes the Blackfoot River with Wapiti Waters

Dr. Fauci with a trout from the Blackfoot River

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci MD, director of NIAID for the NIH since the early 80’s, spoke August 11, 2011 at the Performing Arts Center in Hamilton, Montana just 50 miles south of Missoula. The Division of Intramural Research (DIR) is a branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and more than 20% of DIR's research is conducted in western Montana at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton.

When Dr, Fauci came to visit, he also got to fish. Marshall Bloom, associate director of RML, set up an afternoon of fishing with Jack Mauer, fly fishing outfitter for Wapiti Waters in the Bitterroot. This is the second time in the last few years that Fauci explored western Montana rivers with Bloom. Fauci knows that the beautiful Bitterroot and surrounding areas are parts of the draw for RML's talented scientists. He wanted to see some of it for himself. In fact he said to the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI)  that "over the last 20–25 years, the potential liabilities of the physical separation between RML and Bethesda have morphed into assets, where the beauty of western Montana and the collegial working environment couple with state-of-the-art facilities to make RML highly attractive to world-class researchers and an integral part of the DIR."

Read more about RML and the campus at "Rocky Mountain Labs: NIAID’s Montana campus" by Karen Honey published February 2, 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).

Read more about Tony Fauci at the Director's Page on the NIAID website. He has dedicated his career in public health to becoming a top 10 expert in the world about AIDS policy and research His research in includes learning more about the understanding of how HIV destroys the body's defenses leading to the progression to AIDS. You can read more by visiting Anthony Fauci's biography on Wikipedia.com.

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