Three Forks, MT. One of the greatest aspects of this journey is just letting it happen. Although I have an itinerary, it is always subject to change. Although I had scouted the Jefferson as a possible river, when consulting the experts, most thought it would not fish very well at the time I was going to be in Montana.
As it turned out, the weather changed dramatically from summer to fall this year and thus the Jefferson became a viable option. In fact it turned out to be very successful. Part of this success was due to the guide with whom we floated the river – Brett Seng.
Brett picked us up in Bozeman at the fly shop and drove us over to the Three Forks area where the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin meet to form the great Missouri. Within the first hour after we put the boat in the water, I had three decent browns on my line.
We only saw one or two other boats the entire day and it fished like a charm. It was past the time for dry-fly fishing so we were back with nymphs, but we handled our lines as if we had tied on streamers. It proved to be fruitful – so much so that my husband caught a 23 inch rainbow, not very common on this river.
It was exactly how I had imagined a fall day on a river in Montana . Cool in the morning, warming up to almost hot at midday and then storms rolling in the afternoon. Fall colors were present everywhere and once again I realized how fortunate I am to be an angler in the Rockies.
