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The Ruby River is a tributary of the
The Ruby River is a tributary of the Beaverhead River
The Beaverhead River is an approximately tributary of the Jefferson River in southwest Montana (east of the Continental Divide). It drains an area of roughly . The river's original headwaters, formed by the confluence of the Red Rock River and ...
, approximately 76 mi (122 km) long, in southwestern Montana
Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...
in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. It rises in the Beaverhead National Forest
Beaverhead County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,371. Its county seat is Dillon. The county was founded in 1865.
Much of the perimeter of the county is the Continental D ...
in southwestern Madison County between the Snowcrest Range
The Snowcrest Range, el. , is a small mountain range southeast of Dillon, Montana in Madison County, Montana. The Snowcrest and adjacent Gravelly Range is one of Montana's most popular hunting grounds. The two mountain ranges are home to nearly ...
and the Gravelly Range
The Gravelly Range, highest peak Black Butte, el. , is a mountain range southwest of Cameron, Montana in Madison County, Montana.
About 310,000 acres total are roadless, separated by roads into nine units, the largest of which is 66,000 acre ...
. It flows north through the Ruby River Reservoir, past Alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
, then northwest, flowing between the Tobacco Root Mountains
The Tobacco Root Mountains lie in the northern Rocky Mountains, between the Jefferson and Madison Rivers in southwest Montana. The highest peak is Hollowtop at . The range contains 43 peaks rising to elevations greater than 10,000 feet (3048&nb ...
to the northeast and the Ruby Range to the southwest. It joins the Beaverhead near Twin Bridges
Twin bridges are a set of two bridges running parallel to each other. A pair of twin bridges is often referred to collectively as a twin-span or dual-span bridge. Twin bridges are independent structures and each bridge has its own superstructur ...
. The Beaverhead becomes the Jefferson River
The Jefferson River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Montana. The Jefferson River and the Madison River form the official beginning of the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three For ...
2 mi (3.2 km) downstream where it joins the Big Hole River
The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately long, in Beaverhead County, in southwestern Montana, United States. It is the last habitat in the contiguous United States for native fluvial Arctic grayling and is ...
.
The river has also been known by these various names: Pah-mamar-roi, Pak-sam-ma-oi, Pashmaroi, Passamari, Philanthropy River, Stinking Water Creek, Stinking Water River, Stinkingwater River.
The Ruby is a Class II river for stream access for recreational purposes.Stream Access in MontanaRuby River angling
The Ruby River provides excellentfly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diff ...
for anglers despite some battles with whirling disease
''Myxobolus cerebralis'' is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids (salmon and trout species) that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. It was first described in rainbow trout in Germany in 1893, ...
and a massive fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (2005) ''Plant Management in Fl ...
in the lower stretches in 1994.
The upper stretch of the river, above Ruby Reservoir, has excellent fly fishing for rainbows, cutthroats and grayling. The lower stretch of the river, below Ruby Dam, provides excellent brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
fishing. The average size of browns runs between 10-14 inches, with some fish reaching 18-20 inches. Because of limited access, fishing pressure on the lower river varies. Along private stretches, the river is rarely fished. Most of the angling is done at the few state access sites below the dam. This can cause significant crowding along those stretches, especially during the summer months.
Seyler Lane access litigation
In 2004, the Montana Public Land and Water Access Association (PLWAA) sued Madison County over access to the Ruby river via the Seyler Lane bridge south of Twin Bridges. Landowner James Cox Kennedy who had recently purchased the property was denying access to recreationalists via the Seyler Lane bridge. The litigation was finally resolved in 2014 when theMontana Supreme Court
The Montana Supreme Court is the highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews ...
ruled in favor of the PLAWAA that there was an historic prescriptive easement
An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a property ...
at the bridge for recreational access. The litigation is a key milestone in Montana’s Stream Access Law.
See also
*List of rivers of Montana
The following is a partial list of rivers of Montana (U.S. state).
East of Continental Divide
Water in these rivers flows east and south from the Continental Divide of the Americas, also known as the Great Divide, into the Gulf of Mexico via t ...
*Montana Stream Access Law
The Montana Stream Access Law says that anglers, floaters and other recreationists in Montana have full use of most natural waterways between the high-water marks for fishing and floating, along with swimming and other river or stream-related act ...
References
{{authority control Rivers of Montana Tributaries of the Beaverhead River Bodies of water of Madison County, Montana