View Full Version : Montana: West Rosebud Valley
I am going on a hiking trip with my dad next week to the West Rosebud Valley in Montana. From what i understand it will be mostly lake fishing. Has anyone ever been there, or does anyone have any advice?
There are many lakes in the Absaroka Beartooths. Mystic Lake is something over 400 acres, then there is Island and Silver Lake near the West Rosebud. Personally without a float tube I would seek out the smaller lakes. Of course there are many, many lakes, some are shallow and fishless while the other lakes are either stocked or self sustaining. There are Golden trout lakes, cutthroat lakes, brookie lakes....Access to lakes really depend on the trail you are hiking, depending on if you want to climb off trail, how much effort you want to spend getting to good fishing....
Really get a good topo map, and a Fishing the Beartooths book and see where you will be and what lakes are close or that you wish to hike to. Now with regards to fishing, most lake fishing can be hot or cold, the trout tend to cruise the edges in search of food. Also on the deeper alpine lakes, when the sun is up and high, the trout tend to stay out in the deep water which can be difficult to fly fish from the bank. Of course early and late in the day, the trout start to move towards the banks, hatches start and if you find a pod of feeding fish it can be awesome. Look for an inlet or outlet stream.
If you want to do some river fishing you will be close to good public access points on the Stillwater. With the heavy snowpack this year, it should be fishing very well with attractors and of course hoppers about now.
You could always drive up on the Beartooth Pass and access lakes for fishing, some within a mile or two of the road........
Food: Grizzly Bar in Roscoe, Montana Hannah's in Dean, Cowboy Bar in Fishtail
You will be hiking in one of my favorite area's on earth.....enjoy.
Check out these sites:
http://fwp.mt.gov/news/article_6880.aspx
http://fwp.mt.gov/r5/mountainlakes.html
Drifter
08-21-08, 11:27 AM
Jim's advice is dead on....especially with regard to topos and trail maps. Beartooth Outfitters in Cooke City has a good selection of maps although they may be a little out of your way. I got the book he mentions off of Amazon. I highly recommend it. Lots of lakes, big and small. Most lakes and streams ("criks" in Montana-speak) have easy-to-catch brookies. The larger lakes may have cutts if they have been stocked. Wyoming stocks (cutts) some of those lakes by helocopter....on a 6 year cycle and the fish reach 20+ inches in places. Make sure you know which state you'll be in because the state line goes right through that area...... and when you are in the backcountry, there is no clear delineation. The rangers do patrol the backcountry. We had no problem fishing from the bank due to the lack of trees. The big cutts typically cruise the shoreline and stage at the inlet and outlet. Being so close to Yellowstone....this area is often overlooked....which is a good thing if you like solitude. Truly God's Country!
Here's a few examples of small lake vs. big lake in that area. The large lake is above timberline at about 10,500 feet and about 8 miles from the trailhead. You are in for a treat.
http://www.pbase.com/stevekeeble/image/83399780/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/stevekeeble/image/83477274/large.jpg
There's a new-er store in Silver Gate that stocks some fishing gear, along with a bunch of other random touristy things. The guy that runs it is a fisherman and a nice fella. Stop by his shop for some up-to-date fishing reports. Definitely one of my favorite areas, enjoy your trip.
Thanks for the help. I have a topo map in hand. We are hiking in ~7mi to set up camp. From there it looks like i will be in day hiking distance of Mystic, Island, Silver and Star lakes. I am going to stock up on WB's and muddlers for lake fishing. I am going to get some hoppers also just in case:cross:. I am going to try to make it to a fly shop when i get out there for some more help. Any suggestions on other lake flies or flies that will work in the streams between lakes?
Really the 'streams' between alot of the lakes are typically nothing more than inlet/outlet's that you can just about step over. I haven't fished the lakes you mentioned so maybe they have larger outlet/inlet streams that are fishable however. But I have climbed to many a lake in that area and fished in the lake at the inlet/outlet points. Most of the outlet streams are small and as the lakes are 'alpine lakes' and the drop off's can be very swift....down hill!. Anyway, if you cast to rising / feeding trout they are not too picky on the lakes that don't get much pressure. Ants, bettles, mosiquito, mayfly,adams, type patterns. If you don't see anything rising I would try stripping something subsurface like a woolly bugger. I have had success on emerger and nymph type patterns too...except for the damsel flies (like a GA dragon fly) most of the bugs at high altitude are small 14, 16, 18's etc. Aside from the crystal clear water which can spook fish, if you see them rising and actively feeding my experience is that you can hook up pretty easily on any fly. Don't hesitate to change fly patterns and sizes and change often however. Most of those lakes have a short fishing season with thaw out in July and new ice sometimes starting in late Sept. So when they are feeding on the surface and see bugs they get'em.
We fished an alpine lake in Montana in late July. We got there about 2pm, bright sunny day, saw no trout and caught no trout for 3 hours. Once the sun starting moving behind the mountain peak, I heard, then saw a rise. We moved to that spot near an outlet . 2 hours later we both had caught and released 12-15 cuttthroats each ranging from 17" - 22", big healthy 3lb - 5lb cutt's! We both lost 4 or 5 more that broken our tippet (we had to change to 3X) or simply "let go". Believe it or not we were close enough to each other to pass a camera and honestly we were fishing a 4 or 5 foot square area on a 18 AC lake. These trout had moved to the outlet and I have no idea how many where in there. Anyway, lakes can be hot or cold for fishing, but if you are on a good lake at the 'magical' hour you won't soon forget it.
Just curious how your hiking/fishing trip to this area was? how did the lakes fish?
The fishing trip went great. We managed to camp on the lake that held the biggest fish. On guy caught a fish that was well over 20". Most of the lake fishing was spin fishing though. With the amount of trees and the high winds, fly fishing was tough on the lakes. I did manage to get a nice rainbow on a hopper though. If found an outlet stream that was a nice size. I caught around 15 in 2 hours and most were 14-16" rainbows. We hiked up an exhausting hike that was 4 miles and gained 1000' in elevation. The lake up there was full of cutthroats which was worth the hike. I even battled the hurricane winds to catch one on a hopper. All in all it was great fishing and some amazing sights.
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