Montana 2024 Road Trip
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Started at Gist Bottom Primitive Boat Campsite
Mile marker 122.6
Ended at Hideaway Primitive Boat Camp
Mile marker 136.7
Ended at Today’s river miles: 14.1
Total Trip River Miles: 136.7
We awoke to a cloudy morning with the threat of thunderstorms later in the day.
The hoodoos and spires seem to have faded back into the large formations.
The river seems to be widening and the bluffs are slowly moving farther away from the river.
But the fishing is still good. And it looks like Bones is going to have fish for dinner tonight.
I hooked something big this morning. It bent the fishing rod over like it was nothing. At first I thought it was a snag on the bottom. But then it turned and started pulling the canoe. I slowly worked the line in until I could see the metal leader. Then in a big splash of water and silver scales, my line snapped and the fish was gone. I wish I could have seen what type of fish it was and how big it was. All I know is that it was too big for my fishing gear. I’ll have to start bringing a net with me on my paddling adventures.
Later I found a nice spot that I was sure had fish in it. I cast the lure into the little backwater and the water exploded. Apparently I dropped the lure right on top of a few Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) (similar to Red Asian Carp but they are native to North America and the Missouri River) they spooked and jumped. Fish, water and the lure flew out of the water and went in every direction. It was the funniest thing I’ve seen in quite a while.
I think what happened was that the lure landed on top of one of the fish and the fish thought it was an eagle trying to catch it. Then the fish reacted trying to scare the eagle and escape. It was definitely a surprise to everyone.
The banks are getting muddier as the miles go by. And every now and then a beautiful rock outcropping appears.
Bones: Yummy! Fresh fish cooked over a campfire. I can hardly wait.
I’m glad we had an early dinner because heavy clouds started to roll in around 5pm and we had light showers off and on until after midnight.
Today we saw Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Canadian Geese, Killdeer, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Ducks and Cows.