Photo: A nice-looking brown trout. Courtesy Drew Winterer.

Of the Missouri's three forks, the Jefferson attracts the least fishing attention. While its sister rivers, the Gallatin and Madison, garner international glory as destination streams, the Jefferson is left to its slow-moving ways. But the river named for the president who launched the Expedition and chosen by the Corp of Engineers as the source of the Missouri has its own charms. While cattle have replaced elk, and one mountaintop has been completely displaced by a gold mine (the Golden Sunlight Mine, which recently mined its 1 millionth ounce of gold after 20 years of operation), the valley is still the "open and lovely plain" Lewis described.

More About the River The Jefferson Valley looks much like it did 200 years ago, with Mule deer and beaver having a bigger presence than humans. Houses and roads stay mercifully out of sight of the river, as does the entire town of Whitehall. The Tobacco Root and Highland mountains rise to the east and west, and the river twists and braids through crumbling banks and around sandbar islands. The smack of a beaver's tail, hidden among the willows and cottonwoods in the evening twilight, still makes an angler's heart jump. The Jefferson holds good numbers of brown and rainbow trout, and some pretty big whitefish. Because the river is heavily dewatered by the agriculture in the valley, this river does not have the great fish counts of the Madison and the Gallatin, but it still provides a great experience. Head for the Jefferson for a relaxing day of old-school trout fishing, away from the crowds. Work the deep holding spots.