Missouri River Fishing
Tuesday was the first of 3 days with long time angler, Craig, and he was joined by his fishing buddy Lew for this trip on the Missouri. We had warm temps in the morning and nice, cloudy skies but the forecast called for big winds so we launched early at Wolf Creek.
Lew hooked up in our first spot with a hot rainbow and that fish fought so long that Craig doubled up with him on the seam just below. The fast pace kept up when Craig hooked a really big rainbow that threw the fly on a jump and then Lew connected with another bow just after that.
Craig had some tough mojo going on early as the rainbows kept getting away on him, but the whitefish always made it to the net. Meanwhile Lew just kept picking them off in the back of the boat with nice rainbows in nearly every spot.
By late morning Craig was getting in the grove and once we switched to the short leash rig we doubled up in the next spot. The seams below that produced a big 20″ brown for Lew and a thick rainbow for Craig.
One more bow came off that bank and then we tucked out of the wind for lunch. In the afternoon it was blowing pretty hard, but every time we could get a break from the wind the guys would hook up. Lew fooled another big brown off a rocky bank and at the bottom of that run Craig stuck a long 22″ rainbow.
The wind made it difficult to control the boat and cast, but we stuck with it and found good fish in every spot the rest of the way.
The guys doubled up again the last run and we netted Lew’s rainbow right at the take out. Plenty of action despite the conditions with good numbers of rainbows from 14-22″ and a couple of big browns.
Missouri River Fishing
Wednesday I ventured down into the canyon with Craig and Lew. We started off at the Dearborn and it was hot right out of the gate.
We fished the first run several times and it produced a number of rainbows for both guys and a big brown for Lew. The next two runs were just as good with bent rods all the way down the river. Craig took another nice rainbow of an inside riffle and then we decided to give the short leash rods a try.
That fast bank produced a good rainbow for Craig at the top and then one for Lew at the bottom. Then the guys traded off on nice brown trout just downstream before we went back to the deep nymph rods when the sun came out.
That run produced 5 brown trout in a row which is something we don’t see often on the Mo. We finished the morning with a double on a rock bank. The clouds returned for the afternoon and some rain and wind came along as a front moved in.
The front made the fishing a little tight at first. A couple of good spots didn’t produce and then Craig went on a nice streak with a few rainbows. Once the weather settled the fishing picked back up and Lew got in on the action too. The fishing just kept getting better as the afternoon continued.
In the last hour we had a few doubles and every good seam was holding at least a fish or two. Just like yesterday, the guys doubled up in the last spot of the day to finish it off. A surprising number of brown trout today and plenty of feisty rainbows too.
Missouri River Fishing
Thursday was my last day with Craig and Lew. With bright sun in the forecast we decided that the upper would probably be best and launched early at Wolf Creek. Lew picked off a rainbow to get us started in the first spot and he didn’t stop there.
He was on fire early and Craig couldn’t buy a bite even with the same flies. I was finally able to anchor after landing another of Lew’s rainbows and changed Craig up. That worked and he immediately hooked up with a nice rainbow and found a couple more after that, but the early morning belonged to Lew as he stuck fish in every spot we worked.
Then it got interesting mid morning when the whitefish went on a feeding frenzy. The same flies that were catching trout early, started picking up whitefish every time we put them in the water. There was a trout or two mixed in, but the guys had a run on whitefish for about an hour before we switched over to the short leash rod.
That’s when Craig started heating up with 3 nice rainbows in a row before Lew added two more before lunch. Things kept rolling for us in the afternoon as we doubled up in the first run and then Craig added a nice rainbow and big brown on the next bank. Sometimes the fishing will tighten up in the bright sun in the afternoon, but that was not the case today.
Every single spot was producing quality fish. The guys had a number of doubles this afternoon and Craig had a particular knack for finding nice brown trout. It was Chamber of Commerce weather with bright blue skies, big puffy white clouds, and no wind all day.
The fishing was good too, especially the afternoon. I had a bunch of fun with Craig and Lew the last few days and they are already planning their return to the Missouri next year.
Missouri River Fishing
Friday I fished with Missoula anglers, Joe and Mike. They saw me give a presentation to the local TU chapter last year and booked a day to fish Land of the Giants for the first time. We met at the marina and motored up to the middle river to start the day.
Either the bright sun made the fish a little picky or I wasn’t completely dialed in with the flies. Joe hooked up on the first couple passes but Mike couldn’t buy a strike so I started making changes. After a couple fly changes we started to zero things in and there were good hook ups on every pass.
I was decent fishing with several nice rainbows in the net, but I thought we might be able to do a little better so we motored all the way up toward the dam. It was good up there with some big fish hooked and really nice rainbow for Mike.
We fished our way down from the upper river and Joe stuck a good bow in deep water and then we made a couple passes on a faster shelf with multiple hook ups and some good fish in the net before taking a break for lunch.
The afternoon started fast with more healthy fish on that shelf and once that was played out we went back to the upper river for most of the afternoon. Joe had one run where he hooked 3 big fish in short order and landed a stud rainbow.
We finished the day back at the middle river and the guys closed strong. We caught fish on every drift and during our last pass we landed 5 total including two doubles.
The last fish of the day was a massive 24.5 rainbow for Mike. That was a great way to end the trip. Joe and Mike were a blast to fish with and they are definitely come back for more at LOG next May.
Missouri River Fishing
Saturday was the first of 2 days with the Lindy crew. John has made a tradition of bringing his son and grandsons out to the Missouri each May. This year 2 of the grandsons couldn’t make it so grandson Johnny got the call for his first fly fishing trip.
I was paired up with John and Johnny today as we launched at Wolf Creek. After a lesson on casting, mending, and fighting fish we set off on the water. We spent the first run just getting used to casting and getting a good drift.
In the next spot Johnny hooked up to his first trout, but it was a big rainbow that broke us off. John did a good job of staying out of the way in those first few spots, but after Johnny had a couple of fish on he decided to get serious and put together a string of nice rainbows in the back of the boat.
Johnny was doing most everything well, but he was still getting the hang of the hook set and fighting fish so he came into lunch with only one in the net. These hot Missouri rainbows can be hard to handle for a new angler, but I knew Johnny would figure it out.
He did just that too, with a big rainbow just a couple spots into the afternoon. Then we had our first double of the day with a pair of nice rainbows. The fishing remained solid all afternoon with good hook ups in all the spots.
The guys had another double right at the Craig bridge and Johnny’s was an impressive 21″ rainbow. Either John or Johnny was hooked up the rest of the way with some great trout in the net.
Our last spot produced another double, and after rainbows all day long the guys finished up with a double on nice brown trout. It was unseasonably warm and sunny today, but the fishing was steady from start to finish.
Missouri River Fishing
Sunday we took the Lindy crew down into the canyon. We had cooler temps and cloud cover, but a dreaded north wind in the forecast. I had the youngest John and Scott in the boat today and we started off with deep nymph rigs for a couple of spots.
John stuck a nice rainbow right off the bat and then Scott hooked 3 and landed a decent brown in the next run. A couple more jumping rainbows for Scott in a long run and then we made the change to the short leash rod.
It only took John a couple casts with that rig to connect with a thick rainbow and then the guys doubled up at the bottom of that bank. Scott landed a big bow and John had a spunky little brown trout.
We spent some time in a back eddy at the bottom of that bank and Scott hooked 3 or 4 more landing a couple and John found one more. We found a spot out of the wind for lunch and that was the last time we were out of the wind for the day.
It howled in the afternoon and made the fishing a challenge. The guys had to work hard casting in the wind and it was tough to control the boat too. We were still finding fish in the right spots, but not at the same pace as the morning.
Finally in the late afternoon the wind let up just enough and we started to see a lot of bugs. That helped the fishing and we started to hook up more often.
John got us started, then Scott had a good string of nice fish with a couple quality rainbows and browns and John finished things off with one last bright rainbow just around the corner from the take out. The wind was the biggest challenge today.
The guys stuck with it all day despite the elements and put some great trout in the net. This crew is always a hoot to fish with and we look forward to seeing the eldest John again in a few weeks.
