Great Fishing on the Mo
Monday was the first of 2 days with regular angler, Bill, and his friend Jim. Bill was with me on the Mo at the end of April and came back for one more trip.
We launched at Wolf Creek in warm and cloudy conditions. Jim hooked up on his very first cast and then a few yards below that the guys doubled up, and after landing those rainbows Bill picked up one more in the same run.
It was a fast start to the morning and the action continued downstream. The guys were picking up a fish or two in each spot with the occasional double. Then we hit a long run that was just loaded with trout.
We doubled a couple of times in there and Bill pulled out a couple of dandy rainbows. The first was a 20″ class bow and the second was one of the biggest fish I’ve seen on the main river this year. It was a massive hen that taped at 23″.
The fish just kept coming to the rest of the morning and we pulled in for lunch after Jim put another healthy rainbow in the net. I was hoping we could run a short leash nymph rig in the afternoon, and Bill stuck a nice brown right away on that rig but there was too much sun and not enough bugs for consistent action so we went back deeper and that paid off.
The wind was an issue at times in the afternoon as it made it hard to cast and keep the boat in the right spot. As a result, it wasn’t quite as active in the afternoon as in the morning, but the guys were still finding solid trout in most of the spots and we tangled with some decent browns too.
A wall of black clouds was approaching us late in the day so we fished quickly through the good water and picked off a few more before putting the boat on the trailer. Overall it was nice weather, not much traffic, and plenty of quality trout on the line today.
Great Fishing on the Mo
Tuesday was day 2 with Bill and Jim. I was hoping to take the guys down into the canyon today, but they raised the river 2,000 CFS yesterday afternoon.
It is the first big water bump of the season and the biggest rise in flows the Missouri trout have seen in a long time. I decided to play it safe and we went back up to Wolf Creek this morning. We didn’t touch a fish or the bottom in the first spot and I knew we needed to deepen up our rigs.
After that Bill connected with the first rainbow of the day. Then he caught fire and landed the next 3 or 4 fish and I knew that we would be fine despite the higher flows. There were some big fish eating today too. We had a number of massive rainbows that came unbuttoned on jumps or ran into weeds to get free.
There were some solid fish that hit the net too, and Jim landed a gorgeous 21″ bow in the morning that nearly ran him into his backing. I was surprised at how good it was actually. Bill and Jim had a few doubles throughout the day and solid action for the most part.
While Bill had the hot hand early, Jim was unstoppable in the afternoon. He had a couple of runs with 3 or 4 fish in each spot. We only fished the short leash in a couple of spots, and one good bank produced a jumping brown for Jim and a big rainbow for Bill.
The late afternoon was a little slower as the guys had to contend with a lot of floating debris. Bill closed out the day with the last two trout, a quality rainbow, and decent brown.
The fishing far exceeded my expectations today with the river coming up. Bill and Jim landed a bunch of nice trout and we enjoyed another beautiful day in Missouri. I always look forward to fishing with these two and I will see them both again later this year.
Great Fishing on the Mo
Wednesday was the first of 2 days with long-time anglers, Pete and Tim. It was the first time I’ve had them on the Mo and it had been years since either angler had fished here. We launched at Wolf Creek and Pete hooked a hot rainbow on his very first cast.
Just a few yards later and Tim connected with big brown that went cartwheeling through the river. In the next run, Pete stuck his own nice brown trout and we were off to the races from there. It was a steady diet of big rainbows and a few browns the rest of the morning.
We had some fish break us off and others that threw the hook as nearly every fish was jumping multiple times, but Pete and Tim were landing most of them. The big fish were certainly on the hunt with a bunch of fat 18-20″ rainbows and a handful of doubles.
The afternoon was more of the same. In the first run, Tim tagged the biggest rainbow of the day that made 5 or 6 jumps, belly-flopping into the river each time. Then we had an osprey fly right over us with fish, followed by an eagle, followed by a small hawk and while we were all looking up at the birds the guys doubled up. It was that kind of day, where we hooked up in every spot and usually with multiple fish.
The action continued at a steady pace throughout the afternoon although the average size dropped off a little. We had a few big ones get away but it was mostly 14-16″ rainbows and browns in the late afternoon. Pete closed out the day the same way he started, with a fish on the end of his line. Excellent fishing today and I look forward to getting out again tomorrow.
Great Fishing on the Mo
Thursday was day 2 with Pete and Tim, and the guys wanted to see some different water so we headed down for a long float in the canyon.
The fishing started out decent as Pete picked up a pair of rainbows in our second run including a nice 18″ fish. Then Tim tagged a nice bow off a fast bank. It continued like that for most of the morning. The guys were getting them in spots, but the fish certainly weren’t feeding as aggressively as yesterday.
All different age classes this morning too, with some small and medium rainbows and browns and a few real quality fish. Tim landed one more bow just before lunch. In the afternoon we went with short leash rigs to start and Pete peeled a nice rainbow off the first bank.
Downriver in a big swirly Tim went 3 for 3 with quality rainbows on every pass. The short leashing was a little spotty so we went back deeper and it produced a healthy rainbow for Pete. Then the wind started to pick up and made the fishing a challenge. Tim stuck another bow in fast water and then the nymphing went quiet.
We fished a dry dropper for a while but that wasn’t the answer so we finished up the day with the short leash rigs. It was all Tim for the last hour. He picked up a couple of tiny browns and then had 3 great rainbows to close out the day. We certainly had to work for our chances today, but we seemed to find fish throughout the day.
It was a gorgeous float through the canyon and we had the river mostly to ourselves today.
Great Fishing on the Mo
Sunday was day 1 for Group 1 of the Extravaganza. This is my second year with this crew and we did everything we could to pull it off in Missoula, but it just wasn’t in the cards with river levels and rain in the forecast so we moved the action over to Missouri. Today I was paired up with Ron and his son, Tyler.
We launched at Craig with the hope of some afternoon dry fly fishing under cloudy and calm conditions. The nymphing was excellent right away as we hooked 5 and had a couple in the boat before we even made it under the Craig bridge. In the next run, the guys managed a triple-double with Ron landing a 20.5″ rainbow.
The bent rods continued in every spot through the morning and Tyler and Ron had simultaneous double just before lunch. After pulling on a bunch of nice fish we played around for most of the afternoon fishing dry/dropper rigs and looking for rising trout. Despite the perfect cloudy conditions we never did see a really good hatch and as a result, our dry/dropper action was spotty.
Toward the end of the day, Ron rested and I put Tyler back on the nymph rod. He finished up with 3 or 4 more rainbows and one nice brown trout just above the takeout. We didn’t get the dry fly action I hoped for but the guys caught plenty of fish and we had a great time on the water.
Great Fishing on the Mo
Run-off is different every year and during June it is important to stay flexible because river levels and weather conditions are never guaranteed. We normally have good local options by the 10th or 12th of June, but that is certainly not the case this year. Rain on top of big flows will keep us on Missouri for the next few days, but options will quickly open up as soon as flows start to drop. Some big fish around Missoula is on the horizon!
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Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
Montana Trout Outfitters
406-544-3516
