Small River, Big Fish

M O N TA N A R I V E R S

SMALL RIVER,

BIG FISH

12 | MONTANA OUTDOORS | MAY–JUNE 2021

For years, the diminutive Beaverhead River produced phenomenal numbers of massive brown trout. Can those glory days ever return? BY TOM DICKSON

SMALL BUT PRODUCTIVE The Beaverhead seen from a hill near Dillon looking south (upstream) shows the serpentine river snaking through pasture and hay fields. One of the nation’s top trophy brown trout waters, the tiny river flows at just one-third the rate of the nearby Big Hole and onetenth that of the Missouri and upper Yellowstone rivers. PHOTO BY LINNETT LONG

MONTANA OUTDOORS | MAY–JUNE 2021 | 13