North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2017 | Page 64

DRY FLIES &
BIG RAINBOWS
AN IDAHOAN’S GUIDE TO MONTANA’S
LOWER CLARK FORK RIVER
BY TYLER BALICH
I spent the majority of my guiding career on Mon-
tana’s Clark Fork River, driving from my home in
Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, to St. Regis, which is the
first place this big, wide and mostly flat-surfaced
gem comes into view. Sometimes I would make
this trip 100 times between late spring and late
fall. To do so I had to commit to a 95-mile drive
each way. Needless to say, this river has a spot
in my heart.
The Clark Fork begins near Anaconda, Mon-
tana at the confluence of Warm Springs and
Silver Bow creeks, and continues downstream
about 200 miles before flowing into Idaho’s Lake
Pend Oreille. Through its length this river offers
great trout fishing, although populations dimin-
ish downstream from the Flathead River conflu-
ence at Paradise, where warm water species,
including smallmouth bass and pike, take over.
Along its length, the Clark Fork receives water
from countless tributaries, including some that
read like a hit-list to any dedicated angler—the
Little Blackfoot River, Flint Creek, Rock Creek, the
Blackfoot River, Rattlesnake Creek, the Bitterroot
River, Fish Creek, and the Thompson River.
I never ventured much farther than the area
just below Alberton Gorge, which is a true white-
water stretch located about 40 miles down-
stream from Missoula. But I hit the sections be-
tween Alberton Gorge and Paradise hard. That
is the water I know best, and part of the reason
why I didn’t go farther upstream is because I’m a
driftboat junkie. If I can choose between walking
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The Clark Fork’s broad, flat surface makes
the trout as picky as they come. Matching
the hatch correctly, and delivering a fly to
fish on a dead drift is critical to success.