It is set in majestic scenery amid the massive arena of the Rockies.  In the morning you awake to the honking of several thousand cranes in the valley, and in the evening the sun sets blood-orange across the mountain ridges, ospreys, golden and bald eagles soaring overhead.  Antelope and deer graze the riverbanks, thick with willow and cottonwood and the overpowering scent of sage. For once, man has actually improved the trout habitat by impounding the snowmelt waters of winter behind the Clark Canyon Reservoir dam.  This creates one of the most fabled tail waters in the West- the Beaverhead.  Because the water flows from the bottom of the reservoir, not the top, the temperature is pretty steady, giving an unusually long and stable growing season for the trout below.  The river curves and cuts a rapid flowing vein of clear green water, lime-coloured weed beds were indolently in the stream- it is like a magnified, outsized its health.  There has been no stocking for a quarter of a century and the river now supports a head of about 2,000 wild trout per mile, with a 4lb fish every 40 yards. < previous - next >