Missouri River Fishing
Monday was the first of two days with local anglers, Jeff and Jim. We met early and launched ahead of the traffic at Wolf Creek. Jeff briefly stuck a fish right away and then the brothers doubled up on nice rainbows at the bottom of the first run.
The steady fishing continued from there all morning. In every spot we had at least one bent rod and the guys had a number of doubles too. The best was a simultaneous double where Jim and Jeff set at exactly the same time and came tight on hot fish. Jeff’s bow jumped 7 times before finally coming to the net.
In the late morning, we switched from the deep nymph rig to a short leash set up and the fish were on the hunt in the seams near the bank. After lunch, we stayed on the short leash the rest of the way. It was a fast start in the afternoon with a couple of singles and a nice brown trout/rainbow trout double at the bottom of our first spot.
A thunderstorm moved in on us for about a half hour with heavy wind, a little lightning, and rain. We waited that out in a protected spot and then got right back on the trout. Every bank was producing healthy rainbows and Jim tagged the last hot fish of the day right across from the takeout. Lots of fat 15-17″ bows, a couple of browns mixed in, and a handful of fish that went 18-20″. We enjoyed spectacular weather and great fishing on Mo today.
Missouri River Fishing
Tuesday I took Jeff and Jim up to the Land of the Giants in the jet boat for the first time ever. We motored up into the river and it wasn’t more than a couple minutes before the guys had their first double of the day with big rainbows. Jim tagged 3 more on that first drift and we finished up with one more double.
The fishing was crazy good right out of the gate. We did that run one more time and ended up with a bunch of other nice fish, including a triple-double where I had 3 big rainbows in the net as Jeff bagged another bow after getting his first one in the net and Jim landed one too. It’s hard to leave fishing that good, but I wanted to show the guys everything today so after that we went to the upper river.
It’s a little faster and deeper up there so the fishing wasn’t as productive but we found fish and Jim landed a big 20+” bow up there. Then I took a chance on a run I hadn’t fished yet this year with blue-wing nymphs and it was on fire. No one else was fishing it and Jim and Jeff were sticking tanks in that spot on every pass. The fish were fighting so hard that it was almost comical. We ran that run several times with a number of doubles and a bunch of great fish in the net before stopping for lunch.
In the afternoon we dropped down to the run where we started the day and it was fish after fish in there. Then we moved to the lower river and boated a few more before taking a scenic boat cruise into the Gates of the Mountains. When we returned back from that we headed out into the lake to fish chironomids to finish up the day. Within a couple of minutes, the guys were doubled up, and then Jeff was red hot in the lake with a fish on every 45 seconds or so. It was truly ridiculous fishing. Jeff got run into his backing by a smoking rainbow and Jim landed the biggest fish of the day, a 23″ slab.
The rest were all super fat 17-21″ rainbows that fought like crazy. When the action faded to a bite every couple of minutes we decided to call it a day. Jim and Jeff said their arms were so sore they would have to eat dinner left-handed tonight! It was some of the best fishing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even guess the number of doubles today, but it was well over 20 with a constant stream of big, healthy rainbows boat side. Needless to say, the guys are eagerly anticipating next year.
Missouri River Fishing
Wednesday was the first of 3 days with the Rodmen for their annual Missouri River trip. Today I was paired with Lev and Hunter while fellow guide Scott had Bill and Hunt with him. We launched at Craig for a long float and I started the guys with a short-leash nymph rig.
About halfway down the first bank, Lev came tight on the first fish of the day. Hunter picked up one right after that and then the guys doubled up. Two banks below that and the guys doubled again on brown trout and then Lev added a nice rainbow in the same spot. The trout were eating in most of the likely spots and it was a brown trout-heavy morning. The next double was browned again, Hunter had a solid 17″ fish while Lev connected with a gorgeous 20″ brown.
All the banks were giving up a couple of fish with good action until we stopped for lunch. First thing in the afternoon there was a little bit of a lull and I was thinking of switching rigs until the guys doubled up in a fast, foamy seam. The lines got tangled up so we only landed Lev’s brown but it was enough to keep us on the short leash for a while longer and we bagged a handful more until that dried up and we switched the deep nymph rig.
That wasn’t lights out, but Hunter picked up a couple of fishing deep before we went back to the short leash to finish out the day. The fishing definitely slowed down in the late afternoon and we had to work a little harder. The guys picked up the occasional trout, we doubled one more time, and the last fish of the day was one of the best. Hunter stuck a heavy fish tight to the bank and after a rodeo of a fight, he had a thick 20.5″ brown in the net. Overall it was another solid day on the Missouri. After we got off the water I saw that they raised the water level by 700 cfs today and that push of extra water is what probably made the fishing tougher late in the day.
Missouri River Fishing
Back out with the Rodmen today as we headed up to Wolf Creek with cloudy skies and a light drizzle. Today I had Bill and Lev in the boat while Scott fished with Hunter and Dave. We started off with deep nymph rigs and Lev tagged the first jumping rainbow of the day within sight of the put-in.
He continued to have the hot hand early on as he picked up 8 of the first 10 fish we boated. It was mostly feisty 14-16″ bows and browns early with the exception of a big brown that Lev landed, and then a switch flipped and the bigger fish started to eat. The first double of the day was a pair of beefy rainbows with Bill picking up a fat 19″ bow. The guys doubled again a couple of times in our next spot and we were off to the races from there.
It was a string of big rainbows with the occasional brown trout the rest of the morning. Just before lunch, we had one hell of a cluster situation. Lev hooked up first, then Bill doubled and immediately the trout crossed up the lines. The indicators were all tangled together and there wasn’t much to do but hope for the best. It almost all worked out as both fish stayed on for a long time. Eventually when the fish were boat side Lev’s broke off but Bill managed to land a nice bow. The chaos brought a lot of laughter and it was a great way to end an awesome morning. The afternoon started fast as Lev stuck the first two before Bill landed one too.
Then we switched to a short leash rig and Lev was on a roll. He landed the first 3 nice bows and then Bill turned up the juice. He connected with a big fish in fast water that shot toward the boat so everyone could see it. The ensuing fight was full of drama and I eventually slid the net under a gorgeous 21.5″ brown trout. A fish that will forever be known as the “hog on the log.” Bill’s hot streak continued as he smoked a 20″ rainbow off the same bank and then picked up another nice fish. Eventually, the short leash dried up and we went back to the deep rig.
Lev got on a roll with that and landed several solid fish in a couple of runs. We rounded out the day with a big brown for Lev and a fat brown for Bill right across from the takeout. It was great fishing from start to finish with a ton of healthy trout in the net, at least 6 that were 20″, and a lot of laughs along the way.
Missouri River Fishing
My last day with the fellas was on Friday and we left early for the dam on a soggy morning. Scott had Lev and Dave in his boat while I was solo with Bill this morning. Hunter had some calls to make so we planned to pick him up at Wolf Creek around 10. Just minutes into the day Bill stuck a rainbow on the short leash rig to get the skunk off. That was a one-off as the rest of the foam line didn’t produce and we switched over to the deep nymph rig on the other side of the river.
That was the ticket as Bill connected with 3 fish on 3 passes in that spot. One of which was an absolute monster rainbow that hit the tape at 23″. It was that kind of morning with quality rainbows coming on a regular basis in all of the spots we fished. Lev and Dave had bent rods all morning too. We picked up Hunter right on schedule at Wolf Creek and it was only a few hundred yards before he was tight to a big fish that went screaming upriver almost into his backing. It was a thick rainbow just over 21″ and gorgeous. The fast action continued with plenty of hookups and we rolled into lunch with a double in the net.
The steady rain of the morning finally let up to a light drizzle. In the afternoon with was more of the same with the fishing if not even better. At one point we had a quad on with both boats in the same run and all 4 anglers hooked up. It was so good that I started fishing in different spots just to see if we could find fish, and we did in almost everyone. Lots of big healthy rainbows and a couple of browns today.
Missouri spoils us so much that by day 3 it’s just a simple nod to a 19-20″ rainbow that would be a definite photo op and fish of the day on the Bitterroot or Clark Fork during the summer. The guys had a bunch of doubles in the afternoon with Hunter tagging the last fish of the trip with the Craig ramp in sight. It was an awesome 3 days with a crew that is a ton of fun to fish with. Already looking forward to next year!
