Northwest Reel Life June 2024 Volume 3 Issue 8 - Flipbook - Page 20
Updated website with new products
KOKANEE — TROUT
LANDLOCKED
LANDLOCK
CKED
CK
KED SALMON
S LMON
SA
Matching lures: NEW Kokanee Krill, Beaded Spinners, Super Squids, Spin Bugs
Only the finest fluorescent (“UV”) materials used. Tandem Gamakatsu hooks.
FISH WITH GARY TACKLE CO.
La Pine, Oregon
www.fishwithgary.com
541.536.1002
Home of Kokanee University
break up the morning’s
procession of fish. These
were always a joy for a
twelve-year-old boy to
catch.
Fast forward 50+ years,
my son Matt and I were
heading to his father-inlaw’s ranch on a spring
turkey hunt. Years ago,
Bill mentioned that the
Musselshell River, which
flows through his land,
held catfish. After doing
a little research I learned
that indeed, the river in
this area was well known
to hold nice cats. The
Musselshell flows from the
small town of Melstone
20 | NWFISHING.net
another fifty miles or
so and empties into the
Missouri River at the point
where the river widens to
form Fort Peck Reservoir.
This stretch of water is
known as the “warm water
zone”. Catfish work their
way up the Musselshell for
spring spawning and live in
the many deep holes the
river has as it twists and
bends through beautiful
prairie and wooded
hillside. Bill told me that
cats in the 10-15 pound
range can be caught,
but 4-6 pounders were
more common. Stopping
their upriver passage is
the Davis Diversion Dam,
downstream for the town of
Roundup, which we would
be fishing below.
After a leisurely drive from
Great Falls through everchanging prairie land and
wooded hillsides, I arrived
at Bill’s ranch. Grabbing
a quick dinner, I followed
Bill as he drove along a
gravel road to a prime spot
on his land. Deer darted
away from us, and turkey
leisurely ate their dinners in
the recently plowed fields.
I had to resist the worry
of someone being in “our
spot”. The land is private
property, so unless one of
his neighbors were fishing
there it would be devoid of
other anglers.
