I’m jealous. I love floating rivers. Never done the Bitteroot. How was the catching?
Couple cutts and a whitefish. Skwala hatch has not started yet, though did see a handful of fish rise to surface feed over the course of the drift. Need some nights above freezing to get the Skwalas moving. All fish came on combo of Olive Rubber Legs and Pink Worms.
First time on this Outcast Fishcat 10IR. Not easy to fish and row at the same time. You’d fish a nice slot then scramble to get the gear in ahead of the next riffle. It was better to simple get out and wade fish the best spots. I thought this would be the better boat for when the water is low versus running and scraping up the Clackacraft Eddy. Bottom line, when drift fish you need someone rowing for you.
Water is COLD. My feet were COLD. I was late coming in and had to take a rain check for anniversary dinner out. We’ll go dinner tonight.
I was wondering if skwalas were out up there. Maybe next ten days .
I can catch more fish in my kickboats, because low profile and easy approach, plus I’m fishing 100%. I use fins on rivers, even the shallow Madison. Kick to slow down and maneuver. Tether my oars and use them sparingly.
Even though my fishing time is greatly reduced I prefer my Clacka lowsider and the company of a skilled oarsman, (rare.) Most of the time, as you know, if you have a boat, you end up rowing.
I bought my clacka the first year they made lowsiders, 1987. Still is a fine boat. We’ll see if I outlast it or corona/something else gets me first.
OK seen videos of guys using fins, but thought that was for still water fishing. I assume it’s an either/or scenario with the fins vs boots. Right now my surgically repaired foot would not be up to the fins. I asked the guy I bought the Outcast from about anchors and he said only for Stillwater. He said you’d flip the boat if you used an anchor on a river.
There were several hard boats out on the river. I counted three and asked if they were scraping in the riffles and they said no.
I bought the Clacka used last year. Used it once and I rowed most of the day. It has better maneuverability than the pontoon. We fished the next stretch from Stevi Bridge to Florence Crossing.
I use fins over my boots in my IR10 and I’ve used an anchor with on the Green many times I enjoy my IR 10. Sold my drift boat because I got fed up rowing all the time
I’m headed towards Hebgen first week in May
I’ve fished the Green several times. It’s a talewater fishery that’s much deeper than our rivers here in Montana. I’ve talked with locals who use pontoon boats and all of them just use wading boots and get out to fish the best sections. The Fishcat will work well on the salmon fly hatch on Rock Creek and the East and West forks of the Bitterroot where you can’t take a hard boat.