Land of the Giants Fishing 2026
Monday I had local anglers, Joe and Mike, out at Land of the Giants after their first trip up there last year. We had much cooler weather and some cloud cover today as we made our way to the upper river.
The fishing started fast as we hooked two and Joe landed a nice rainbow on our first drift. That scenario repeated itself on the next pass as Mike informed me that Joe always catches 3 before he lands one. And it held true today.
As soon as Joe had his third fish, Mike promptly put a nice rainbow in the net. We were averaging about a fish on each pass in the upper river and I wanted to look for something a little better so we dropped downriver to the sunken island.
That seemed like a good call as we doubled up right away. That spot produced a few more hook ups on big fish that got away and a couple smaller bows for Mike, but the trout weren’t super grabby so we moved over into the faster water.
We hooked a fish on each pass in that spot before taking a break for lunch. For the afternoon I rigged up a couple short leash rods for the fast water and we gave it a shot. We hooked some fish on 2 passes, but had bad luck with hooks bending out or fish just coming unbuttoned.
At that point we had a decision. Either stay in the river with a hook up or so per pass or go check out the lake. I felt like there was a better chance of finding great fishing out the lake so we made the run.
And it only took a minute or two before Mike was tight to a big, chrome bright rainbow. He stuck a bigger one just after that and I quickly switched Joe over to the same fly.
And from there we had moderate action until about 4:00. The guys were trading off with nice rainbows and we had a few that got away.
After 4:00 the action died. I changed flies several times and we moved to a couple different spots but the trout had clocked out for the day.
Overall it was decent fishing. We hooked or caught fish in all the spots we fished in the river and had a good window of fishing on the lake.
No monsters in the net but a bunch of healthy 17-21″ rainbows is pretty good.
Land of the Giants Fishing 2026
Tuesday was the first of 3 days with local angler, Jim, and his crew. Jim and Mitch have been coming to the Mo for years and they brought along some guys who had never fished the Missouri before.
With cloudy weather, cooler temps, and a north wind we decided to fish the canyon today. I was paired up with Jim and his son-in-law, Chris. The run right above the put in produced a nice rainbow for Chris on his second cast.
We moved down to where the Dearborn comes in and Chris found a colorful rainbow at the confluence. Jim played the good host allowing Chris to get the first two fish and then he went on hot streak with some nice jumping rainbows in the next run.
Then we tried the short leash rods and Jim found a rainbow and a brown on that bank, but the next spot didn’t produce so we went back to the deep rig for the rest of the morning.
That was the right call as the guys banged 3 out of the next run and then we picked up a handful of smaller rainbows in the spot after that as we came into lunch.
We switched to the short leash rods for the afternoon, but first we had to dodge a nasty rain and sleet storm by hiding under a bridge for 20 minutes or so. Fortunately that was the only moisture we had for the day.
Chris got us started after lunch with a hot rainbow and then Jim went to work on a faster bank. He picked off a couple rainbows before he hooked into a solid fish at the bottom of the bank. It was a big brown that we got a couple looks at before it just came unbuttoned.
Later in the afternoon we found a foam hole that gave up nice trout every time we cycled through it, including a good double for Jim and Chris. Jim brought us home with one last rainbow around the corner from the take out.
By then it was cold enough that everyone was happy to hit the ramp. The wind made it a challenge today but we had fish willing to play from start to finish.
A lot of mid-sized rainbows from 14-17, a handful of browns, and a few bigger rainbows 18+. It was a good start to the trip.
Land of the Giants Fishing 2026
Back on the Mo with Jim’s crew Wednesday and we made our way up to Wolf Creek to launch. I was paired with Jim and Hunter today and we set off under sunny skies, warmer temps, and a very wicked wind. The wind was challenging early on.
It was hard to control the boat and difficult to cast and mend. Despite that Jim stuck a big rainbow in our second run and had another one on the line just below that. Hunter joined the club in the next run and we hooked a couple more on the deep rig, but I thought we might be able to do better in the wind on a shorter and lighter rig so we switched over.
The results were immediate. Hunter tagged a mid-sized bow and then Jim brought a good one to the net. We built some momentum off of that and the guys landed 3 or 4 other quality fish before we met up with the other guys for lunch.
The fishing was great right out of the gates in the afternoon. Jim and Hunter both connected with rainbows in their first few casts. Further down that same bank Jim tied into a super heavy rainbow that jumped several times and threw the hook on a jump.
Immediately after that he got his flies back in the water and doubled up with Hunter. Hunter had a bright mid-sized bow while Jim landed one close to 20″.
That pace continued quality fish in most every run. Jim and Hunter doubled a couple more times and we had a few other near doubles too.
The action faded a little coming down the homestretch, mostly due to some boats anchored in very inconvenient spots, but other than that it was a pretty good day of fishing on the Mo with bright sun and heavy wind at times.
Land of the Giants Fishing 2026
Thursday we took the gang up to the Land of the Giants in the jet boats. Today I was paired up with Jim and Mitch, and we set off for the upper river to get started. Jim got things going with a big rainbow in the first few minutes and it wasn’t long after releasing that fish and the guys doubled up on hard fighting rainbows.
The trout were grabby and we hooked a couple of fish on each drift. They were all good sized fish from 18-22″ and fighting hard so a few got us into rocks or threw the hook on jumps, but the net was getting wet once or twice on each pass with heavy trout.
One of the craziest moments was a double hook up for Jim and Mitch, but they both had the same fish. I’m sure the fish didn’t try to eat both flies, but what I don’t know for sure is if maybe the flies were crossed up underwater before the fish ate or if one angler had the fish foul hooked.
What I know for certain is that both Jim and Mitch were connected to that fish as it charged upstream. Eventually Jim’s flies came free, but Mitch was still hooked up and we managed to keep that fish out of the big rocks and we eventually saw that it was a very big brown trout.
It was close to the boat but still down a few feet when the fly simply popped out. That one was a heartbreaker, but we shook it off with several more nice rainbows before meeting up with the guys for lunch.
In the afternoon Jim had the hot hand right out of the gate with a couple bows on the first drift including a battle scarred 21″ fish. Then the fishing on the upper river tightened up and the wind start to blow.
We dropped down to the sunken island and Jim tagged another thick bow right away and then Mitch connected in some fast water. We hooked a few more in there, but the wind was making it tough so we decided to run out to the lake for the last hour of the day.
I hadn’t even tied on a fly for Jim when Mitch hooked up to a bright bow on the lake. After the quick start we had to play with the flies a little to figure out what they wanted, but we finished up the day strong with a few more including a gorgeous 22″ rainbow for Jim and a slab 23.5″ rainbow for Mitch.
With a few photos of those we made our way to the dock to meet the rest of the crew who needed to catch a flight out of Helena.
It was a great 3 days with Jim’s crew and we capped it off with really good fishing at Land of the Giants for everyone.
Land of the Giants Fishing 2026
Friday I had long-time angler, Dianne, and her son Paul up at Land of the Giants. They had fished two days in the drift boat with David and we were able to connect for the last day of their trip.
We motored to the upper river and Dianne’s flies weren’t in the water for more than 40 seconds when she came tight on a solid rainbow. She stuck another one at the bottom of that drift and our day was off to a fast start.
The bite was good early with several strikes on each drift and a fish or two to the boat. The highlight of the morning was a big, battle-scarred 23″ rainbow that Paul landed. By late morning the bite was drying up so moved downriver to fish some faster water.
There was a strike or two in there before we took a break for lunch. We had to do a little searching in the early afternoon to find them again and I kept dropping downriver. The last run in the river started to produce some action for us.
The first couple passes it was smaller rainbows but then we started to find some quality fish and Dianne tagged a bright 20″ bow. The action was decent in there but I thought we had a shot at some bigger fish if we ran out to the lake to finish the day.
There was a good chop on the lake and Paul was hooked almost instantly in our first spot. Dianne picked one off there too, but then it got quiet. We moved spots to get out of some of the wind and it paid off.
The action was more steady there and we tangled with some big fish. There were a couple break offs and early releases, but both Paul and Dianne put some heavy fish in the net.
Dianne finished strong with a pair of gorgeous 22″ bows near the end of the day. Good fishing in the river in the morning, a lull mid-day and then the river picked up again.
And the lake gave up some big ones to close out a great day on the water. Dianne and her family love fishing in Montana and they are already talking about their trip next year.
