A Week Fly Fishing the Bob Marshall Wilderness

My brother, a few friends, and I spent a week fishing the Bob Marshall wilderness. Guided by the packers and wranglers of the Diamond R guest ranch in Spotted Bear, Montana, we packed 22 miles into the wilderness with 9 horses and 13 mules. We spent a week camped on the bank of the South Fork of the Flathead River. We fished the White River and up and down the Flathead, a few miles upstream of the White River confluence and as far downstream as Damnation. We caught hundreds of cutthroat trout, even the uniquely white cutthroat of the White River.

By the numbers, it’s impressive the journey required to reach this incredible fishing ground.

2,000 miles by air (RDU -> SLC -> FCA)
80 miles by car (Kalispell -> Spotted Bear)
22 miles, 8 hours by horse (Trailhead -> campsite)
4 miles by foot or horse each morning (to get to the fish)

Other numbers:

90F+ in the day, 60F+ at night
9 horses (5 for us, 4 for the wranglers / packers)
13 mules to carry our gear. Up to 80 pounds on each side of a mule.
8 bottles of top shelf bourbon. (1 bottle per day)
3 bottles of vodka for daily sundowners was not enough.
3 cases of beer
10 blocks of ice (last block made it the end of the week)
2 travels days to go from my bed at home to my cot at the campsite on the Flathead, and another 2 on the way back.

Flies notes: