Three Days in Montana: Day 1 on the Lower Clark Fork

After a long stretch without much time on the water, I finally got away for a few days of fishing with my good friend and longtime guide, Jake Hensley — aka @missoulaflyguy. We’ve shared countless days chasing trout together in Montana, and this trip was no exception. Three days. Three rivers. Great company. And some serious testing of our latest rods.

This trip meant more to me than usual. I haven’t fished much since my dad passed away last summer. Between grieving and the whirlwind of launching our new El Rey Series, it had been hard to find time to reset. But I needed this — a few days off the grid, just chasing fish with a good friend.

I flew into Missoula on a Saturday (after a mile-long sprint through Denver to make my connection — pro tip: pack light), and spent Sunday with our daughter, who managed to turn a Costco run into a shopping spree on dad’s dime. Then on Monday morning, Jake picked me up around 9 a.m. and we headed to the Lower Clark Fork.

Rod Lineup: The Travel Arsenal

As usual, I packed more rods than your average angler — one of the perks of owning a fly rod company. For this trip, I brought:

• The new El Rey G4 9’ 5wt (4-piece)
• A prototype El Jefe v2 9’ 5wt (4-piece)
• A loaded El Rey G6 Travel Tube, carrying:
  
• El Rey G6 9’ 7wt
• El Rey G6 9’ 5wt
• El Rey G6 8’6” 4wt
• Two El Jefe v2 six-section rods
  

That’s five high-performance rods, all in one compact carry-on. No oversized rod tube, no hassle at check-in, no gate agent drama. This travel tube is an absolute game changer. When paired with our G6 and Jefe v2 packable rods, it makes traveling with your gear effortless — without sacrificing performance.

Day 1: A Hatch (Almost), Dirty Water, and Solid Fishing

We hit a stretch of the Lower Clark Fork where we’d slayed them two years prior. The river was rising from snowmelt, and we were hoping for a big skwala hatch. It never really popped — not the way we’d seen it before — but the fish were there.

We rigged up two El Rey 5 weights — one G6 and one G4 — with a nymph setup and a dry-dropper featuring a chubby up top and a big stonefly underneath. Right away, we started connecting on rainbows, cutthroats, and cutbows. Even picked up a few baby bull trout below the tributaries.

The water was getting dirtier by the hour. Debris started coming down, and by late afternoon it was clear the river was blowing out. This stretch would be unfishable for weeks — maybe longer — so we pulled the boat and called it a day.

Rod Performance: G6 vs G4

The biggest takeaway? I could barely tell the difference between the 6-section G6 and the 4-section G4 in hand. Both felt smooth, balanced, and powerful — proving once again that these travel rods aren’t just for convenience, they flat-out perform. It’s why I say: Never fly without your G6.

Final Thought

When you can carry five premium rods in a single travel tube, fish them hard on a big western river, and have them perform like top-end 4-piece rods — that’s not just convenience. That’s innovation. These rods and tubes are a game changer, plain and simple.

Stay tuned for Day 2, where we ventured up the Upper Clark Fork and connected with some serious brown trout.