FLY FISHING THE BITTERROOT A River of Change and Challenge By Justin Karnopp The banks of the Bitterroot River are a good place to ponder. In the shadow of the namesake snow-capped peaks, the mind is free to wander, like the deer, elk,
moose, bears and raptors that thrive in mixed forests of poplars and pine. The river itself is a mesmerizing jewel, the flow a rich tapestry of emerald and garnet. Perfectly camouflaged within this medium are the river’s primary attractions, wild brown and rainbow trout, introduced to Montana’s rivers in the 19th century, and bull and Westslope cutthroat trout, native to these waters since time immemorial. Artists and anglers find inspiration here, and for those with a propensity for both, images of feathers, fur, and foam begin to take shape in the easel of the imagination. The impetus for some of the most effective dry fly patterns ever developed, relied upon by fly fishers the world-over, can be traced back to a moment on the Bitterroot, when a fish posed a problem and an angler/artist set out to solve it. And the problems posed by this hallowed trout river are many. The Bitterroot is highly schizophrenic, more so than any other freestone (undammed) trout river I have fished. For 15 years, this
stream has consistently flummoxed me as both a guide and angler. One minute, the trout are freely rising to my dry fly, and the next, there is no sign that a fish even resides here. I hypothesize that the river’s inconsistency is partly due to the presence of the towering Bitterroot Mountains themselves. This range reaches for the 10,000-foot mark and forms a barrier to storm fronts rolling in from the Pacific Ocean, 1000 miles to the west. Eventually, the saturated clouds unleash enough precipitation in the Idaho wilderness to rise up and crest the Bitterroot Range. A pleasant afternoon can quickly turn sour, with rain, snow and especially wind, the bane of all fly anglers, rushing down the slope of the mountains. These events cause drastic changes in the barometric pressure. Fish maintain equilibrium in the aquatic environment via an internal air bladder,
