Swan River Overview
Access to Swan River
Tributary Creeks of the Swan River
Area Lakes of the Swan River
Camping Along the Swan River
Fly Shops and Outfitters
Originating out of Lindbergh Lake, the Swan River rushes 35 miles to Swan Lake. Although not as fertile of a river as other rivers in western Montana, the Swan River, nonetheless, produces good numbers of westslope cutthroat, rainbow, bull trout and mountain whitefish. The great advantage of the Swan is that it is relatively isolated with less fishing pressure. The challenge is two-fold from Mother Nature. The mosquitoes and flies feast on fly fishers who defy the tangled, dense foliage along the shore. The greatest challenge, however, lies waiting for the rafters and canoeists. Good luck! (See map below.)
Rafting the Swan is similar to rafting on Rock Creek. The oarsman must be ever-vigilant, and their fly casters cannot be contemplative or inaccurate in their casting ability. The water is especially swift in the early summer and appears to be one long riffle, punctuated by occasional pools and eddies. The best cover for the trout is under the logjams and downed trees, and it is these obstacles which make the Swan River risky. After a record rainfall for June 1998, I launched my one-man drift boat at Piper Creek and floated down to my campsite at Cedar Creek Campground on the Fatty Creek Road. I had received information on a large logjam, but I didn't listen carefully. Left or right? I went right, and it was the wrong decision, as I came around a swift bend and encountered an incredible 20-yard logjam. If I had been floating in a raft, I would have been faced with an extremely difficult decision, as there was no going back upstream due to the fast current. Luckily I found a narrow opening to follow, and I only had to drag my little boat over two logs.
Normally, I am
fairly adept at floating while I am tying on a new fly. Not so for the Swan.
Because I wanted to fish Jim Lake that evening, I just fished without stopping.
What a rush it was for speed, scenery and fishing. I started out with a size 12
Royal Humpy and went 100 yards without catching a fish. Oh, oh, I thought. But
then they started coming up to my fly, one after another. I must have caught
over 15 rainbows and cuts, all under 9 inches. Due to the speed of the water, I
knew I was missing good pocket water and sheltered downfall. Rowing and casting
without stopping is not the way to fish the Swan.
I switched to a
girdle bug and didn't have another fish on for over an hour. I thought to
myself, Okay, you've caught the river's dinks, now let's put on a Muddler and
pull in some of those bigger guys. With about a mile to go to my campsite, I
tossed out an unweighted Muddler. The deer-hair collar kept the large Muddler
floating high and dry. One dink after another rose to hit it even before I had
a chance to strip it under the water. When I got off the river, I walked up to
Eric Bjorge, who is a river guide and owner of the Two River Gear store in
Bigfork.
"Well, all I've
caught is dinks today," I said.
"Pretty typical
for the first day on the Swan," he replied. "If you want the big guys, you've
got to work a nymph."
"What can I
expect from this river?" I asked.
"Twenty-four to
30 inchers," he retorted.
"Bull," I said.
"Yeah, bull
trout, but I've caught a lot of 18- to 20-inch rainbows in this river."
Swan River trout average between 8 and 12 inches. In talking to Eric further, he suggested that if you are going to fish the Swan, "go big or go home." The Swan has a long and steady hatch of Isoperla stoneflies so stimulators or large yellow Humpies will work well.
