Friday we bailed for the Jr. Bassmaster qualifier at Noxon Reservoir. The weather was finally looking up but water temperatures and color were a mystery. Turns out the water has been cooler but clarity was pretty good. There were still some fish finishing up spawning unfortunately one familiar area was so choked with Millfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) that we couldn’t get in for a look. Millfoil spread is really bad news for local waters and Montana and Idaho are putting in check and wash stations this season. On our way into Sandpoint, ID. to get a boat trailer tire fixed there was a check station set up on the state line.
Noxon Smallmouth Bass
While the younger kids were out doing the tournament gig we fished the steep drops, rip rap and rock points where there was some moving water and picked up several smallies, largemouth and a pike. The bigger fish were absent for the whole weekend. The biggest we caught were in the 2-3lb. range and they were largemouth. The morning hours seemed the best but we didn’t really get to fish the evenings because of wind. The biggest tournament fish was a twenty inch smallie. I’d like to tie into one like that on a fly rod.
Noxon Largemouth
I tried a couple bugs I tied up real quick before I left but after getting refused while my cohort was smashing smallies with plastics I couldn’t take it anymore and went back to the spinning outfit. I learn a little bit more every time I go out after bass with the fly rod, sooner or later I’m bound to come up with something that tickles their fickle little fancies.
We blew up a trailer tire on the way home that landed us in the parking lot of Bird House Crossing at the junction of Hwy. 200 and Hwy. 56. Bird House Crossing is a gift shop owned by Cindy Iversen. This is not just your average gift shop either. Cindy makes, yes- handcrafted birdhouses and they pretty amazing pieces of work, far from you standard bluebird nesting box.
Blowout at Bird House Crossing
I guess if I had to break down somewhere I couldn’t have picked a better spot. As it turns out Cindy was pretty well seasoned at saving road side travelers too. She had us set up with a tire repair at Wally world in Sandpoint in about 20 minutes, a garage jack (after my chevy jack folded in the crisis) and secure parking for the boat while we scurried off to get the tire fixed. After a three hour side trip, including a tour of Cindy’s gift shop we headed up the Bull River highway for home. One black bear and a scenic stop later we were back on MT 2 headed for home.
Cabinet Mountains, Montana
Just when we thought we had it made we were lit up by the Highway Patrol just west of Libby. Turns out that a couple of my boat trailer lights were out. As I was digging out my paper work I told him about our blowout, which was was refuted by my bandage knuckles (most women are more mechanically inclined than me), broken tire jack and shredded trailer tire laying in the back of the boat. He of course ran the checks on me; I’m not sure if it was my clean driving record or that I looked like I’d been beaten with a bad tire jack but he returned shortly with a warning and turned us loose.
We finally arrived at home shortly after 11pm with my nerves a little frayed from dodging deer in the dark for most of the 80 mile run between Libby and Kalispell. The big reward was that my youngest son came home with the #1 spot in his age division and we all caught lots of fish and made it home in one piece. And of course, new tales to tell and a HUGE thank you to Cindy Iversen at Bird House Crossing for saving our tails on a Sunday afternoon in one of the nicest places to break down anywhere. You can find out more about Cindy’s bird houses at birdhouse@montana.com.
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