![]() Most stocked lakes receive two-inch trout every four years, almost exclusively cutthroat nowadays (Yellowstone cutts in the Yellowstone River drainage, westslope cutts everywhere else in our area). The Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks website FishMT is the best source for this information-select the Stocking menu item and enter the lake’s name to see if, when, and how often it is stocked. The first factor to consider when choosing a mountain lake is whether or not it is stocked. You can-and will, eventually, if you spend enough time up high, alone in the alpine air, angling at altitude. These fisheries require more effort to get to, and they lack the big-finned browns that many folks lust for but they reward ambitious anglers with exquisite backdrops, native fish, and the feeling that you did something worthwhile.Īnd don’t think you can’t catch a kype-jawed 20-incher just because you’re in the sterile, clean, thin mountain air. From the Beartooth Mountains to the Idaho border, hundreds of alpine tarns hold native cutthroat trout, eager Arctic grayling, and elusive and gorgeous golden trout. Wealthy, indeed-just like the riches of southwest Montana’s mountain lakes. Now, thinking back on that misty morning in the high country-touching the trout’s cool, colorful skin, breathing the fresh mountain air-I’m reminded of a line from Bob Seger: “Those are the memories that make me a wealthy soul.” ![]() ![]() As the fish leaped and splashed, a gray jay clucked, the sun broke the ridgeline, and alpenglow set the surrounding slopes ablaze. Out went a flying-ant pattern and I soon hooked the strong, 17-inch Montana blackspotted cutthroat trout. There-a lengthy specimen, meandering the shoreline. Kneeling in the mountain’s shadow, I searched for cruising cutts. ![]() I slipped on a sweater, crept down the bank, and gazed at the lake’s color continuum: peppermint near the shore, blending into teal, and finally a rich navy blue. At 8,400 feet, deep in the Gallatin Range, our campsite was cool. Stumbling out of my tent in the soft light of dawn, I wondered if the fish would be in a similar less-than-lucid state. ![]() Pursuing cutthroats, goldens, and grayling in thin air. ![]()
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