It was Wild Kingdom that day we saw a few moose (a little too close), a billion deer, partying packs of skunks and too many migratory waterfowl.

Our last day of the season was spent floating the Jefferson from Twin Bridges to Silver Star access. Let’s not forget the world record brown trout was caught on a twitched jig. Even smaller streams like the Beaverhead and Ruby, which we fished from shore, all just a short hike from the parking spot provided excellent jig fishing.Īll feature a thousand wild trout per mile (or more) and all are more than famous for brown trout measured in pounds. The Jefferson below the mouth of the Big Hole the big Missouri below the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin the Madison just above the entrance of Ennis Lake. The rivers we targeted are no secret they are some of the more famous trout streams on the planet. Recently transplanted 35 year ex-Forks steelhead guide JD Love and I were floating a few rivers near his new home in western Montana last early spring, and once again in mid-October. And no one, I mean no one is using these things in Big Sky rivers.

Turns out, jigs work well over there in all types of water, not just lakes, but rivers as well. So it made perfect sense to me to bring my plethora of jigs with me on a spring trip to western Montana last April.

Best of all, it gets the attention of larger fish with regularity. In all the lakes I happen to be at the time, large or small, from April to November, jigs catch trout of all sizes as well, or dare I say better than most techniques. I started using jigs for trout here in eastern Washington a few years ago.įirst as a novel alternative to heavily pressured trout, then as I discovered their versatility and raw effectiveness, they became my out-of-the-truck first shot go-to for all trout species.

Fishing planet white moose lake salmon