Clark Fork of the Columbia River
Clark Fork
Coursing through the eclectic college town of Missoula, the Clark Fork of the Columbia is the lifeblood of Western Montana, draining the largest volume of water of any river in the state. 28,000 miles of rivers and streams run down the western flank of the Continental Divide, feeding this beast. The Blackfoot and Bitterroot are two of the largest arteries, pumped full of cold, clear water via a web of veins in the vast, mountainous cavity between the Canadian and Idaho borders.
The Clark Fork watershed has had a checkered past, her headwaters precariously linked to Montana’s mining legacy. The river languished from 60 years of abuse. Pollution from mining activities resulted in the country’s largest Superfund site. Save a concerted restoration effort on behalf of conservation organizations, anglers, and boaters, culminating in the breaching of the Milltown Dam in 2008, the Clark Fork would not have been allowed to heal and flourish into the dynamic, unabated, riverine ecosystem that it is today.
The Lower Clark Fork begins at the Bitterroot confluence and leads anglers west on an 80-mile sojourn through a fly fishing wonderland. Home to a myriad of trout sub-species and some goliath northern pike; it is the wild rainbows that define the Clark Fork. Mercurial in nature, these torpedo-shaped slabs of steel flecked with ruby and jade are the river’s true gems. Pursuing them with the dry fly will test the skills of the most-seasoned angler. The fish begin looking up in March and April with the emergence of March Browns, BWO’s, and prolific spring stoneflies featuring the inch-long Skwala. Post-runoff, a smorgasbord of caddis, mayflies, and stoneflies negate the need for an indicator. The hopper fishing in late summer has been fantastic in recent years and early mornings offer a test of resolve-the trifecta of diminutive Tricos, light tippets, and selective heads. Come autumn, the courtship calls of bull elk ring in the year’s most consistent dry fly action with blanket hatches of BWO and Mahogany mayflies.
The Upper Clark Fork, from Warm Springs downstream to the confluence with the Blackfoot, is a distinct fishery that benefits from the influx of cold, clear waters from the Little Blackfoot, Gold Creek, and Rock Creek (the latter a renowned trout stream in its own right). Though 1-90 parallels the river, the meandering course of the Clark Fork isolates boaters from the din of traffic. Brown trout lurk in the undercut banks and the native Westslope Cutthroat population continues to improve in the pools and pockets alongside watershed health. Streamer enthusiasts will find a target on every circuitous turn, and peeling a bugger off the bank is always a good bet on the Upper.