High water chronicles 2024, vol. 3, the fisheries are in our hands

Our trout streams in western Montana or the Idaho Panhandle have a lot in common.

Whether you fish the St. Joe in Idaho or the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, or Rock Creek in Montana, you'll find the same trout species, the same insect hatches, the same general topography, but with infinite local variations that can differ slightly as you move from one run to another on the same body of water, much less into a different watershed.

It's theme and variation. Each stream has its own character, its own nuances. Wherever we fish, we fish mostly for the same species of trout: wild rainbows and browns, and o...