My in-laws live up in the Yaak River Valley. You’ve likely never heard of it. It is in Montana, but doesn’t make too many fishing magazine covers. It isn’t one of the sexy MT rivers you’ve read all about. This is where the family and I spent Labor Day weekend.
It’s a beautiful freestone river and fluctuates with the seasons and the annual precip totals. It’s not supposed to be “on” right now, but, it totally was.
The Yaak River, Montana
Let’s just say I crushed up there. Hopper/Dropper was the key and if the sun was on the water, it was fast and furious.
The fish weren’t big, but they were plentiful. I even had the odd surprise, like this 17″ feisty rainbow caught right in front of my in-laws place with everyone watching.
Nice Yaak bow
I’d say most of my fish on the trip were under 9″, but there were just so many of them! It is the kind of river I love at these late summer flows. You get in, walk around, cast at pocket after pocket after pocket. You are constantly on the move and if something isn’t working, you can adjust quickly because the feedback is so immediate.
A nice little Yaak bow, returning to the river.
My girl LOVED Montana. She especially loved riding on the ATV with Grandma and Grandpa, but she also loved the snake we briefly detained,all the fish, the big grass field, the woods and pretty much all the good stuff Montana has to offer. It was simply a fantastic Labor Day weekend. We hope this is the start of a Montana Labor Day tradition.
Looking forward to the return trip.
Awesome.
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Tags: Montana, Yaak River
Montana! Love it! 9 months of winter and 3 months of house guests! Glad you were able to score big points in front of your in-laws! I wish my in laws would move to MT!