09-23 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 12
Clearing the port side stacker rod,
I worked the fish ever closer as
frantic runs became shorter and
less frequent. Finally, a chrome
bright football slab of a chinook
appeared. Easing the fish to the
net, Rob scooped the fish up and
into the boat. Wow, what a pig! It
was obvious that these freshwater
chinook are feeding good. Plump,
and all fins intact, we admired a
fish a thousand miles away from
its native element. Montana
Department of Fish, Wildlife, and
Parks certainly created an amazing
fishery out in the middle of the
prairie.
After bleeding the fish, it fit (barely)
in my cooler. Lines back down we
continued our troll, noting more
boats joining us. As the morning
progressed the fleet of boats
probably numbered a couple
dozen. Spread out over an area
of maybe ten by ten miles, overcrowding was not a concern for
this fishery!
12 | NWFISHING.net
With high hopes for more fish, we
explored the general fishing area.
Marks were common at 60-90 feet,
and we also noted fish marks on
the bottom at 160 feet. Dropping
a rigger ball down and bouncing
the bottom, it wasn’t too long
before I confirmed my assumption
– lake trout. Shelby brought the
nice 6-pound fish to the boat
and in the cooler he went. Since
everything we had read and been
told indicated the chinook were
suspended, we went back to middepth with the deep rigger.
The action died off and we came
in around 1pm, cleaning our fish at
a first-rate cleaning station at the
Fort Peck Marina. I stopped in and
visited with the owner and guide
at the Marina, Scott Collinsworth.
Scott is very active on the Montana
Salmon Facebook group and
willingly shares information on
techniques to catch these fish.
He indicated the bite had slowed
down from the previous week (no
doubt a low-pressure front didn’t
help) and catch rates were about
a fish per boat. That’s still pretty
impressive for big 15-25 pound fish
(ours was 16 pounds). Even more
impressive was another guide
boat that came back with nine big
chinook! That’s what daydreams
are made of.
We retired to the Cottonwood Inn
where Rob hit the casino and I
hit the bed for an afternoon nap.
Cleaning up the boat and rerigging gear, the day ended with
a nice meal at the The Woods,
the Inn’s dinner. A nice variety of
dishes were available, as well as
craft Montana beers on draft and
a full-service bar, all at affordable
Montana prices.