World United States Montana Fort Smith

Highways and Byways with Jeff and Susan Northwest Summer 2007

Fort Smith, Montana Aug 15, 2007

We drove to the home that Jim and Jeanette Schroeder have in Fort Smith, Montana. This is their fishing retreat. It is abutting the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Here the Yellowstone Dam holds back Big Horn Lake. This lake is like 60 miles long and it resembles the Grand Canyon. It is very narrow with vertical sides. The lake is 500 feet deep with very few shallow areas. It is home to about 12 species of fish, probably more. It has some very large trout and large walleye, even some decent sized smallmouth bass. I bought a two day license and Jim and Jeanette guided us around the lake to taste the fishing. I only caught one fish I'll tell about. It was a 7 lb walleye pike that was 27" long. I thought I had hooked the bottom. I will admit that Jeanette was the best fisherman (fisherwoman?). She caught the first, the last and the most. She caught more fish than Jim and I together. My fish went in the freezer and Jeanette fed us her fish for two dinners. This lake and canyon are so beautiful it is hard to believe that I had never heard of it before. I think that is because the only way to see it is by boat. This lake is in the middle of the Crow Nation Reservation. As soon as you step on land, you are on Crow land. We went up to the lake on Sunday and we just settled in. Every night Jeanette feeds us on different dishes and Sunday was no different. Her house is all in a fish design element. The keep a nice boat and a truck to tow it here. We fished all day on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, we did chores and drove back to their house in Billings. They had a meeting on Jim's high school reunion that he is in charge of setting up. I added some pictures of their Billings house under the Billings, Montana event, they will be at the end. Their house is quite beautiful and they have recently done just about a complete remodel of the inside. Their house has that really great feeling of a great home. You can just tell how they enjoy each room. Luckily, the part of Billings they live in is the coolest in temperature. I notice that it is about 10 degrees cooler her then is posted in either Billings or Laurel, the two adjoining cities.