Opportunities in Montana’s Ruby River Valley

The Ruby River begins in the high elevations of the Gravelly and Snowcrest Mountain Ranges of southwest Montana and flows for approximately 76 miles before it confluences with the Beaverhead River about two miles upstream from Twin Bridges.  In the town of Twin Bridges, the Beaverhead and Big Hole confluence to form the Jefferson River.  There is nowhere in the Lower 48 states you will find more world-class rivers to fish than the Twin Bridges area of southwest Montana, and the Ruby is considered by many to be the jewel of them all.

The Ruby is one of those rare and valuable rivers that is too small to float yet grows large trout due to its excellent water quality and habitat.  The stretch of water between the Ruby Reservoir and Twin Bridges benefits from the bottom release dam pumping cool and nutrient-rich water into the river, as well as from several significant springs throughout the length of the river.  This stretch is primarily a brown and rainbow trout fishery, with big brown trout becoming more dominant in the lower stretches.  This is excellent dry fly water with fantastic “hopper fishing” opportunities. The Ruby River Ranch and the Miller Ranch are both located on this stretch of water. Both ranches have incredible recreational resources, with each ranch providing approximately 1.5 miles of Ruby River frontage.

One of the most attractive aspects of these ranches is they both have strong agricultural operations to help defray the annual costs of ownership.  World-class recreation and revenue-generating agriculture is a winning combination.

“With many of our world-class recreational ranches, there is an annual cost of ownership that can be significant.  Particularly if there is a high-quality ranch compound, like the Ruby River Ranch,” says Fay Ranches founder and Ruby River Ranch Broker Greg Fay,  “But with these two ranches, the agricultural component is strong and offsets the annual costs, which makes them an excellent long-term investment.”

It also doesn’t hurt that there are really big fish in the Ruby River or that you will most often be fishing without another angler in sight.  That is why many people consider the Ruby to be the best trout fishery in the state for a ranch investment.

Below are a couple of measured 21” brown trout caught on the Ruby River Ranch last week.