we need details about the three day creek, which would be a good name
for it, if you fear disclosure of the truth.

did you go by the small (by montana stds) that i hiked up, barely
surviving, when i was there last?

danl and i had planned to fish cardiac creek, but we tried some new
areas and found three day creek. it was so good, and as pretty a stream
as any i've fished, that we stayed on it and never got to cardiac.

three day was full of big rainbows and cutts. we caught a lot of
them...all on dries (though danl might have dabbled with a dropper a few
times). i caught many on a big rogue salmonfly pattern even though that
hatch had ended weeks before. danl caught the biggest fish, several 17
and 18 inchers. i hooked a monster...easily 20 inches...that threw the
hook at the apex of a 3 foot leap from a deep, clear pool. beautiful,
powerful fish. as you would expect, danl is the best of fishing
companions and adept at teasing the trout. he did some pretty work with
dry flies on undercut banks and under the willows.

we only had one day when we saw another person on the stream ahead of
us. like nc, he put the fish down noticeably as we came to the place he
put in. but the guy only fished a short stretch and we moved above him
and didn't encounter another person the rest of the day. there were
deep pools between shallow runs, undercut banks, and many deep fast
water channels. three day presented every kind of spring creek stream
character you could want in a small western trout water. the water temps
were in the mid 50s in the morning, and the fish were fat and brightly
colored. in contrast, the fish i caught in the madison looked washed out.

if you return to the area, three day is a stream you would and could
enjoy. it doesn't require the treadmill tromp that cardiac creek
presented, plus it's wider and more open, easy to wade, and can be
fished effectively from the rocky banks in most places.

jeff