If the French hadn’t sold the Louisiana Purchase to the U.S. this particular river might have been known as the Rivière Tête de castor. It is not that long at 69 miles but has the distinction of being part of the 4th longest river system in the world - the Missouri/Mississippi. Water bubbles up at Brower’s Spring, the source of Hell Roaring Creek near the Continental Divide at Montana/Idaho border and flows some 3900 miles before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Hell-Roaring Creek flows into the Red Rock River which in turn flows into the Rivière Tête de castor and onward to the Gulf. The low gradient reach I was fishing this Thursday morning flows through willow and scrub with very few large trees. Shade along the river is at a premium. Historically this section of the Rivière Tête de castor has been abused and channelized by landowners with dewatering for irrigation and extensive riprap installed using abandoned vehicle carcasses. The polished chrome from 1940s sedans that line sections of bank still shine in the bright sunlight. Ascetically, this is not a stream providing stunning landscape vistas.
Not the most scenic stream in Montana
One might ask why you might want to fish the Rivière Tête de castor. It’s simple. The potential for big 20”+ browns and large rainbows is high. Although fish density is not great, deep twisting holes can hold big fish and well-placed streamers can connect with some really big trout.
The abundance of spring creeks entering the river provide for an excellent insect population and great spawning locations. There were a lot of schools of fry along the shallow edges of the river.
Spring creeks like these not only provide good spawning habitat but will almost always hold a few fish at the mouth.
Schools of fry like this were abundant along the shallows.
As is my custom, a 4AM wakeup got me on the river just before sunup. Even though it was in the low 40s at dawn, the cloudless sky foretold high temps early in the day. When I left the river at noon, the air temps had reached the high 80s. It was an average day of fishing. No really big fish, but plenty of connections to make it worthwhile. There was a lot of insect activity early in the morning with PMDs, caddis and the first Trico hatch I’ve seen this year. But all that activity didn’t bring many fish to the surface. Usually, this reach is good hopper water, but again no joy with hoppers yet. Maybe August will bring them to life.
Like many SW Montana streams this season, run-off was short, but severe and the effects could be seen on the Rivière Tête de castor as well. Lot of debris high on the banks, some rearrangement of gravel bars and the occasional spot of nature’s artwork undisturbed by human presence.
Only nature could make something this interesting.
