For those following the Smith River Question thread, I drew a Smith permit for a launch on 5.2 so I wanted to follow up with a report/ blog about the awesome experience…it’s not short but it’s a trip report 
Everyone in our group of 10 do not live in MT so that added some complexities when flows were not looking favorable. A lot of phone calls and text messages between a few of us along with the ranger station and raft outfitter kept me busy during the long drive. We made the decision 24hrs prior to launch that we had come all this way, we said the hell with it and decided we were in…flows at that time were @ 135cfs.
May 1st comes, we’re all staying in Bozeman and I arrive early to complete last minute errands. Folks arrive, we have a few libations and pre-cook all the food and pack the car. Everything is looking good to get out early until my car doesn’t start the morning of our launch…left a door open and battery died and took a while to charge before it started. Off we go…
Our group of 10 is unique, half of us are used to these type of trips so we became the decision makers. The other half don’t even really fish and maybe shouldn’t have come but they are family members of mine who love the outdoors so thought they’d appreciate the trip. I also yanked my 12yo out of school and brought him along. He loves the mountains, loves fly fishing and idolizes my buddies who were joining us.
Arrive at Camp Baker…flows are at 120cfs. For those not familiar, the FWP doesn’t recommend floating in rafts below 250cfs. We’re here…we’re going and we know we’ll be in for a slog on day #1 and the raft outfitter was cool with that. Only 2 other groups joined us for the launch on that day, assuming the other permits cancelled due to flows. Both of those groups had plans of 4 nights/ 5 days, we planned for 3 nights/ 4 days.
90 minutes to debrief with ranger, who was awesome, and load gear and off we go @ 11:15am and flows of 120cfs. This was 2 hours later than I wanted but car issues and downsizing our load at the launch put us behind. We made all the reasonable weight saving decisions after adding an extra raft the day prior…don’t bring anchors, scale back on equipment, cut down on clothing, only bring 11 cases of beer and only 5 bundles of wood
.
The non-fishers set off forward rowing and we tell them we’ll see them 12 miles later at Scotty Allen camp. The rest of us fish…then pull rafts and then fish and then pull rafts some more. Day #1 float ended up being ~8 hours and everyone boated fish and everyone pulled rafts…a lot!! I would assume I was out of the boat 25 times to drag across shallow gravel. I expected this, others did not and we’re a bit discouraged. The highlight of the day was my 12yo nymphing up 8 fish out of a hole in front of the camp in 45 min. I couldn’t have wiped the smiles of of his exhausted grandfather’s faces if I had wanted to. I call day #1 a success despite it being physically taxing, especially for those who weren’t well versed in rowing. Pat’s Rubber Legs were the most successful fly of the day.
Day #2 starts cool, overcast and damp but not raining. Flows seem to have stayed the same, we eat and pack up to depart. Some were not looking forward to day #2 but they don’t have a choice. Day #2 brings us fully into the canyon and the narrowing of the river dramatically increases “floatability” of our 5 boats and we’re no longer dragging rafts. The weather clears up and scenery is fantastic all day. Non-fishers are much happier, get to camp earlier and set up for dinner. Our 3 boats that have the people there to fish are fishing much harder and we were all exclusively using streamers, which were very effective. Then came Heaven on Earth at around 6:15pm and Vic hosted us for 45 min for some orange cocktails and my son got to raid the snack cabinet and grab a few cokes. Camp was Bear Gulch <1 mile away so we rolled in at 7:45 to a set up camp and the smell of dinner cooking. Was a fantastic day!!
Day #3 is a repeat of day #2 except a headache I attribute to Vic’s bartending. We again fish streamers exclusively and have success. Scenery does not get worse, we boat fish and camp at Ridgetop, which was my favorite of the 3 camps.
Day #4 was get away day so we started early because we were staying in Helena and wanted to get a group dinner in before everyone heading out the next morning. Because of the flows, the last section of the canyon involved a bit of slalom rowing, which took away a bit from the fishing but was fine. Winds picked up big time in the cattle country but luckily it was 95% at our back. Again a streamer day, again fish were boated and were on the road by 3pm.
Looking at it after I’m now back in Chicago (and the flows are 95cfs higher) I’m glad we did it. Sure it was miserable day #1 but we expected that. Not really sure it could be done in <120cfs in a raft. More water would have helped not only for the float but for fish coverage. I didn’t see a single random fish as we floated by, only when they hit the fly. Between the 8 fisherman we figure boated and released >125 fish but another 75cfs would have gotten some of the fish out of the deeper bends and into the normal fish able water. Nothing spectacular on the fish size-wise but everything was 12-18” with a few whities thrown in to keep things interesting when nymphing.
The other positive of the trip, thanks to the flows, was after the first 8 miles we didn’t see another soul on the river outside of Vic at Heaven on Earth. When the group talked about our experience we all agreed it wouldn’t have been as great if another ~60 people were on the river during our launch day. It was truly a secluded experience.
Tonight as my exhausted son was going to bed he gave me a hug and thanked me for the best week of his life. In terms of outdoor experiences, I have to agree with him!! Thank you to everyone who provided advice and encouragement and if you’re looking for a POV on the experience I know I’d do some things different so can add a first timers lens. I also want to call out Tim @ Montana River Outfitters in Great Falls as he was fantastic throughout the whole process…if you can throw business his way, please do.
That is all…
Everyone in our group of 10 do not live in MT so that added some complexities when flows were not looking favorable. A lot of phone calls and text messages between a few of us along with the ranger station and raft outfitter kept me busy during the long drive. We made the decision 24hrs prior to launch that we had come all this way, we said the hell with it and decided we were in…flows at that time were @ 135cfs.
May 1st comes, we’re all staying in Bozeman and I arrive early to complete last minute errands. Folks arrive, we have a few libations and pre-cook all the food and pack the car. Everything is looking good to get out early until my car doesn’t start the morning of our launch…left a door open and battery died and took a while to charge before it started. Off we go…
Our group of 10 is unique, half of us are used to these type of trips so we became the decision makers. The other half don’t even really fish and maybe shouldn’t have come but they are family members of mine who love the outdoors so thought they’d appreciate the trip. I also yanked my 12yo out of school and brought him along. He loves the mountains, loves fly fishing and idolizes my buddies who were joining us.
Arrive at Camp Baker…flows are at 120cfs. For those not familiar, the FWP doesn’t recommend floating in rafts below 250cfs. We’re here…we’re going and we know we’ll be in for a slog on day #1 and the raft outfitter was cool with that. Only 2 other groups joined us for the launch on that day, assuming the other permits cancelled due to flows. Both of those groups had plans of 4 nights/ 5 days, we planned for 3 nights/ 4 days.
90 minutes to debrief with ranger, who was awesome, and load gear and off we go @ 11:15am and flows of 120cfs. This was 2 hours later than I wanted but car issues and downsizing our load at the launch put us behind. We made all the reasonable weight saving decisions after adding an extra raft the day prior…don’t bring anchors, scale back on equipment, cut down on clothing, only bring 11 cases of beer and only 5 bundles of wood
. The non-fishers set off forward rowing and we tell them we’ll see them 12 miles later at Scotty Allen camp. The rest of us fish…then pull rafts and then fish and then pull rafts some more. Day #1 float ended up being ~8 hours and everyone boated fish and everyone pulled rafts…a lot!! I would assume I was out of the boat 25 times to drag across shallow gravel. I expected this, others did not and we’re a bit discouraged. The highlight of the day was my 12yo nymphing up 8 fish out of a hole in front of the camp in 45 min. I couldn’t have wiped the smiles of of his exhausted grandfather’s faces if I had wanted to. I call day #1 a success despite it being physically taxing, especially for those who weren’t well versed in rowing. Pat’s Rubber Legs were the most successful fly of the day.
Day #2 starts cool, overcast and damp but not raining. Flows seem to have stayed the same, we eat and pack up to depart. Some were not looking forward to day #2 but they don’t have a choice. Day #2 brings us fully into the canyon and the narrowing of the river dramatically increases “floatability” of our 5 boats and we’re no longer dragging rafts. The weather clears up and scenery is fantastic all day. Non-fishers are much happier, get to camp earlier and set up for dinner. Our 3 boats that have the people there to fish are fishing much harder and we were all exclusively using streamers, which were very effective. Then came Heaven on Earth at around 6:15pm and Vic hosted us for 45 min for some orange cocktails and my son got to raid the snack cabinet and grab a few cokes. Camp was Bear Gulch <1 mile away so we rolled in at 7:45 to a set up camp and the smell of dinner cooking. Was a fantastic day!!
Day #3 is a repeat of day #2 except a headache I attribute to Vic’s bartending. We again fish streamers exclusively and have success. Scenery does not get worse, we boat fish and camp at Ridgetop, which was my favorite of the 3 camps.
Day #4 was get away day so we started early because we were staying in Helena and wanted to get a group dinner in before everyone heading out the next morning. Because of the flows, the last section of the canyon involved a bit of slalom rowing, which took away a bit from the fishing but was fine. Winds picked up big time in the cattle country but luckily it was 95% at our back. Again a streamer day, again fish were boated and were on the road by 3pm.
Looking at it after I’m now back in Chicago (and the flows are 95cfs higher) I’m glad we did it. Sure it was miserable day #1 but we expected that. Not really sure it could be done in <120cfs in a raft. More water would have helped not only for the float but for fish coverage. I didn’t see a single random fish as we floated by, only when they hit the fly. Between the 8 fisherman we figure boated and released >125 fish but another 75cfs would have gotten some of the fish out of the deeper bends and into the normal fish able water. Nothing spectacular on the fish size-wise but everything was 12-18” with a few whities thrown in to keep things interesting when nymphing.
The other positive of the trip, thanks to the flows, was after the first 8 miles we didn’t see another soul on the river outside of Vic at Heaven on Earth. When the group talked about our experience we all agreed it wouldn’t have been as great if another ~60 people were on the river during our launch day. It was truly a secluded experience.
Tonight as my exhausted son was going to bed he gave me a hug and thanked me for the best week of his life. In terms of outdoor experiences, I have to agree with him!! Thank you to everyone who provided advice and encouragement and if you’re looking for a POV on the experience I know I’d do some things different so can add a first timers lens. I also want to call out Tim @ Montana River Outfitters in Great Falls as he was fantastic throughout the whole process…if you can throw business his way, please do.
That is all…
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