To everyone who drew a permit to float Montana’s Smith let us be the first to say: Congratulations, you lucky son-of-a-gun. Not only are you about to embark on one of the country’s most amazing floats, you have also earned the distinction of making nearly 10,000 hopeful applicants from across the country jealous of your
A young volunteer moves one of the seemingly countless tires found in Shoshone River during a cleanup arranged by the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited near Cody, Wyoming. Photo provided by the East Yellowstone TU Chapter By Brett Prettyman The Shoshone River near Cody, Wyoming, put off an impressive tire hatch over the weekend
From ice out until late spring, pike are in the shallows and ready to hit a fly. Here in the Lower 48, it’s prime time for pike. From ice out until lakes “turn over” in the late spring, pike can be found cruising the shallows of lakes and in the froggy water of rivers in
Above: Sheep Creek is an important tributary to Montana’s Smith River. It is also the place a foreign mining company has their copper mine. There is a systemic problem with the hard rock mining industry in Montana. Too many times have we seen out of state and international hard rock mining companies come into Montana,
Several years ago, I was on an early-season prospecting trip into the headwaters of the Rio Grande in south-central Colorado, on the prowl for migrating cutthroats. I found a great little meadow-stretch of water and carefully crept to the edge of the river—really just a small stream at this elevation. Peering carefully over the edge
(Above) The Lost River Range rises in the distance. Photo by Rachel Andona. (Below) The campfire, where winter washes away. Photo by Cameron Hunt. By Chris Hunt I’ve been known to push the season. As a newspaper reporter some 25 years ago in Buena Vista, Colo., I showed up to cover an April town council
Photo by Thom Bridge, Helena Independent Record There are a handful of happy boaters and anglers this week in Montana, and a whole lot of disappointed folks, too, as Smith River float permits were announced. You win some, you lose some. The Smith, perhaps Montana’s best-known backcountry float-fishing excursion, is a great early season float,
