Fishing on X Creek

A week, or so, ago a guide buddy (Emmett) and I decided to get out of the Bitterroot for the day. He suggested we go try a piece of water (X Creek), which is a few hours away, more or less. Yes, I am being a little cryptic here. Please don't even bother to ask me where this place is because I am sworn to secrecy by the penalty of death. I had never been to X Creek, but I have heard stories from Emmett who had fished it a couple years ago. The only clue I will give you is that it has cold water, big fish and it is a few hours from here. That's it, no more clues!

After arriving at X Creek, we rigged up our rods and headed down to the water. Not only were we greeted by a plague of hoppers, it was obvious that the mosquitoes had not seen anybody in a LONG time. From the 100, or so, yards from the truck to the creek, I think I was drained of at least a pint of blood. The only saving grace was that I was wearing waders and a long sleeve shirt. You might by scratching your head right now at the wader aspect. If you know me, you know that I cannot stand waders. However, even though it was the later part of July and the forecast was for 90+ degrees, the water in X Creek is COLD. Another factor is the rock structure on X Creek is very jagged and slippery. This is no place for my typical bush hippie bare feet!

The fishing on X Creek can best be described as a long stretches between good holding lanes. We covered probably 3 miles of creek that day. Although we did catch some fish in the shallow banks, all our nicest fish came in deep, long runs. In the first run, it just so happened, that I was on the best side. I was fishing a #12 hopper and on my first cast and nice 15 inch rainbow sucked it down as soon as it touched the water. Emmett said, "That's nice but if you a good one one, you better be prepared to run downstream as it runs". These fish, I later found out, are so wild that they are not used to being fooled by an artificial. Once these fish get hooked, they absolutely explode and make some reel smoking runs. They receive very little, if any, pressure. As a matter fact the only footprints I saw the entire day were Emmett's. However, there were signs of four-legged critters. At one point, I looked down to see a very fresh pile of bear scat. This area is known to have some big grizzly bears and at least one had been there recently. We did not see any bruins that day, but we sure made a lot of noise as we headed up the creek. Anyway, back to fishing. After a few more casts in the same run with no success, I decided to try a local Bitterroot pattern tied by John Foust; the infamous Freddy. On the first cast into the run with Freddy, a very large brown trout absolutely crushed Freddy. Unfortunately, I didn't get the hook buried properly in its' mouth and it took just one head shake to spit the fly. The next fish ate Freddy as it was swinging at my feet. This was a beautiful 18 inch rainbow that took off straight downstream after I set the hook. I tried to land him like I would on the Bitterroot River, by swinging it to the bank. However, I forgot where I was and what I was dealing with and I should have run downstream with the fish. A few moments later the fish shook the hook. After getting my ass handed to me by two large fish, I suggested to Emmett that he take point on the next couple of runs.

As the morning turned to afternoon, the fishing just kept getting better and better. When I caught up Emmett he had just landed a 15 inch and a 17 inch brown trout. He then suggested that I fish the next deep run. After a few unsuccessful upstream casts, I walked upstream and let Freddy float downstream. I gave Freddy a little twitch and the water erupted. As my rod doubled over, I knew I had a really nice brown trout. He tried first to wrap me around a log and then he took off downstream full of piss and vinegar. I got really lucky in coaxing him around several large boulders, which I thought were sure to shear my line. I must have run downstream at least 50 yards before gingerly easing the fish to the bank. The fish measured 21 inches and weighed at least 3 1/2 pounds; a bruiser for sure. After seeing the success I was having, Emmett asked if I had anymore Freddy's. It just so happened that I did have one more. However, the funny thing was that Emmett does not fish Fred. He is not purist A-hole by any means but is not a true believer of Fred, until now. Just a small side bar, Emmett came by the other day and got a couple of Fred's from me to fish on the Bitterroot; another convert. We both landed a few more nice fish the rest of the day but my brown was definitely the fish of the day; makes me wonder how big the first one was! I did land another 19 inch brown that slammed Freddy on the tail end of a float as he was skating across the water. Go figure!

We both decided halfway through our day that we would walk all the way up this certain section of X Creek and get on the road to walk back to the truck. We knew it would be akin to the Bataan Death March. However, before we hit the highway, I shed my waders, took a long swim in X Creek and made sure my clothes and hat were soaking wet. This made the first half hour okay, but the rest off the walk was brutal. I even resorted to hitchhiking while waving a $20 bill to entice a ride. However, my efforts proved to be futile. Much to my amazement, a guy drove by with Montana trout plates and didn't even stop. That was probably good thing because I wouldn't have wanted to talk about where we just fished! I know a lot of people have their own X Creek, which is a good thing. Everyone needs a place to go where they can feel like they are one of a very few, if any, people to fish that specific water. There are still places like X Creek left, all you have to do is find yours.