I'm dispersed camping about 10 miles NE of Lincoln, MT. Lots of cloud-to-cloud lightning last night and probably more tonight. The day was blue sunshine and mid nineties so I wet waded about a mile of the Dearborn River middle fork. Gorgeous clear waters especially compared to the Sun River.
I crept up on a pool and spotted the shadow of a large trout but it was hard to actually see the fish itself as they blend in with the background so well. I gently cast the same hopper I caught the big one at Sluice Boxes but the water was so clear it was startled by the mere shadow of my leader. Only saw one other large one. Got one "flying fish" (3 inches, yanked clean out of the water trying to set the hook. Landed one 5 inch brookie. 2 other large trout swirled around my hopper in a pool but then rejected it. Not much action for 4.5 hours of fishing.
Heartbreak yesterday on the East Fork of Dearborn which is much smaller. At a bridge I looked down into a deep pool and saw a monster trout. Parked and was just sliding into my waders when a pickup truck stopped in the middle of that bridge. I gave him a curious look , making sure he could see my fishing gear. Next thing I know, 3 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs pile out and set up a picnic on the opposite shore from me. I asked them nicely if they could give me just 15 minutes to have a go at the trout I'd spotted. "We have fishing rods too you know" came the indignant reply. With that they threw sticks right where the fish was for the dogs to fetch and one the adults went for a swim in the spot for good measure.
Likely, they are local folks who can come here all the time and resented any whiff of a tourist trying to tell them what to do. It's doubtful I will ever pass that way again. That was just stone cold mean of them.
I went upstream and caught a few small cutties and rainbows. Beautiful water but man is it hot in the sun. I will stay for another day and see if I can find some better fishing.
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