Side Trip to the Fisher River, Shortcut to Highway 2 connecting
Kalispell and Libby
The Fisher
River access is at mileage marker 14 on Highway 37 a few miles below the Libby
Dam. The Fisher River is only fair fishing for small rainbows and whitefish.
The road is paved and runs 24 miles to meet Highway 2. The road is narrow in
places. Primitive campsites may be found throughout the Fisher River drainage.
Side Trip - Route 567 from Libby to Yaak. (Alternate route.) Follow
California Street out of Libby and cross the Kootenai River (boat launch just
by the bridge). California Street changes to Route 567. Take Route 567 (also
called Pipe Creek Road) to Yaak, a distance of 37 miles. Pipe Creek gets fairly
small during the summer. Nonetheless, it offers good fishing for small trout.
The East Fork of Pipe Creek is a tiny, brushy creek holding small brookies.
Side Trip to the Fisher River, Shortcut to Highway 2 connecting
Kalispell and Libby
The Fisher
River access is at mileage marker 14 on Highway 37 a few miles below the Libby
Dam. The Fisher River is only fair fishing for small rainbows and whitefish.
The road is paved and runs 24 miles to meet Highway 2. The road is narrow in
places. Primitive campsites may be found throughout the Fisher River drainage.
Lake Koocanusa
Straddling the
border with 48 miles in Montana and 42 miles in British Columbia, Lake
Koocanusa was formed with the creation of the Libby Dam in 1971. Alice Beers of
Rexford, Montana, coined the name for the lake. The name combines the first
part of Kootenai, the second part "can" from Canada and the last three letters
for "USA". The lake is immense and offers very marginal shore fishing. The
principal draw is the prodigious numbers of kokanee salmon ranging from 11 to
14-inches. Large kamloop rainbows lure boat fishers from all around the region.
Boaters will find plenty of water to fish with over 46,000 surface acres.
Campground and boat launches are spread evenly around the lake.
Highway 37 from Libby to Eureka, via Lake Koocanusa
Highway 37
passes the Libby Dam via Lake Koocanusa, 66 miles to Eureka and then into
Canada on Highway 93 to Banff and Jasper National Parks in British Columbia.
Parallel to this highway is a paved road on the other side of the lake that
intersects with the highway at the Koocanusa Bridge, a distance of 45 miles.
Take California Street to the bridge crossing and the city boat launch.
