A trip into the mountains outside of Big Sky, Montana, to fish for grayling and golden trout always sounds like a good idea— until you learn that it will take three agonizing hours in the saddle to get to the lake. But, as The Flyfish Journal editor Steve Duda discovers, nothing awesome comes easy at 9,000 feet, there are untouched places where the world’s most beautiful fish are just waiting for your fly.

Words: Steve Duda

Horses always seem like such a good idea, and this horse, Pockets, was everything everyone loves about horses: tall, stately, dignified, his big brown eyes emoting trust, steadfastness and a gentleness out of proportion to his size and power. Pockets even smelled good—that fecund mix of hay and clover, sweat and leather fittings. I rubbed his snout, told him he was a good boy and wondered if his horse sense was alerting him to how frightened I was.

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