The name of this fishing section, “Land of the Giants,” is named after the mere size of the trout that exists in this portion of the river and Upper Holter Reservoir. An expected and typical guided day of Fly-Fishing the Gates of the Mountains area in either the reservoir or river both start off first by meeting your guide in the early morning at the Gates of the Mountains Marina.

Many guides will split up the day by fishing in the reservoir in addition to the notorious, “Land of the Giants,” river section, either at the beginning or end of the day. The river section is phenomenal but don’t miss out on the fun that the reservoir has installed as well. Fishing techniques for the river and reservoir consist of either nymphing or streamer fishing because the watershed is so big and deep. Although, occasional dry fly opportunities do present themselves on both. Upper Holter Reservoir has a tremendous amount of weed beds and structural shelves that create a lot of different prolific aquatic fly hatches. As a result, these eagle lake species trout have a variety of food sources, and it makes for good fly-fishing fishing.

These trout in both the river and reservoir are on average 20” with an insane amount of mass and it is not uncommon to find rainbows or browns in the 24-30” range as well. The trout that are found in the “Land of the Giants,” river section is great in size because they come from the reservoir. They primarily reside in Upper Holter Reservoir where their food source is more sustainable in the weed beds, and the water temperature is most consistent. The trout then also become more catchable and concentrated in the shallows when they head upriver for spawn or are looking for colder water. Over the last few years, the river section in the “Land of the Giants,” has provided enough of a stable environment for the trout because of the substantial food source and water flows, that many trout are simply living in the river section full time and keeping their size, instead of the reservoir. As a result, there are more opportunities to catch trout in that section of river and their season to find them is longer, pushing well into late fall.