"Larry L" wrote in message
...

Yes, thank you for the TR ...

You bet...

The Bitterroot is one river still on my "wanna" list. Is it mainly
just
a floating river because of access problems? or is walk-in wade access
reasonably available?

For the most part I have only float fished the river. I have seen a few
people
wade fishing, however I believe it's limited due to private property. The
West Fork
has wade access that I have fished. You could easily spend a couple days up
their.


I have two WaterMaster rafts ( made in Missoula ) and can and do float
various rivers. However, I far prefer fairly extended visits to
rivers
and taking the time to get to know them reasonably well. Over the
period
of a couple weeks $30/ day for shuttle adds up so I try to avoid floats
more
than occasionally, plus I prefer wade fishing. Maybe you could provide
clues on good places to park my travel trailer ( hook ups not needed ) for
a
couple weeks as a base for exploring?

I don't think you would have any problems in your WaterMaster rafts from
Darby to Florence. There are two diversions from Wally Crawford to
Anglers Roost. Found this out the hard way about 10 years ago when I
first floated the Bitterroot, we were in a hard bottom boat.
I received bad information. Soft bottom boats or rafts should not be an
issue.
My buddy has fished most of the sections in a belly boat.

If you stop into the River Otter Fly shop (Florence), Chris can set you up
with a shuttle, they are
$22.00 a day. I also have another guy that I have never used, if you head
that
way, I can forward that info to you. I know what you mean about shuttles
adding up.

There is a very nice camp ground between Florence and Stevensville, it was
once called
Charles Waters, now Bass Creek.

From my reading the Hamilton and down sections seem most to
my taste ... slower water, side channels. My nature is such that
learning
the in and outs of a few hundred yards of "my kinda" water can keep me
busy
for a couple weeks and happier than drifting miles of river.

That is correct. Look for foam and heads popping...

If I can answer anymore questions, feel free.

JT