The march toward darkness is approaching completion as we are now less than two weeks away from the Winter Solstice and that shortest of days after which we will inch ever closer, day by day, month by month, to the promise of spring and a brand new season filled with epic fishing on the MO.

The good news is that the long December nights are accompanied by an abundance of festive lights and holiday cheer and just happen to coincide with the countdown to Christmas and New Year’s, both of which will be here before you know it.

The real slog begins once the holidays have passed and we are stuck smack dab in winter’s grip, hopefully watching the snow pile up while we pass the time tying flies and dreaming of spring and of rising trout.

For the time being, winter weather continues to be flirtatious. Some snow here and there, more rain than we typically see in December, warmer temps than you would expect and plenty of wind to keep the traffic to a minimum on the Missouri.

More of the same on tap for the near future with the possibility of some snow on Thursday and Friday but outside of that it looks like 40’s, partly cloudy and breezy most of next week.

It’s a solitary time of the year if you happen to be spending your days in a Missouri River fly shop but there’s no shortage of things to do with flies to count, gift cards to send out, trips to book and endless end-of-year tasks to complete while preparing for the season ahead. It seems like forever from now but in a little over three months we will be ramping up.

Bookings for 2026 are solid and seem to be trending slightly upward from what we saw this year however we have had a few lodging cancellations during prime time so give us a call if you are still looking for June/July dates.

Our shop hours have been hit or miss with the lack of traffic but if you do find yourself with a free day to hit the water we’d love to see you. Shuttles are pretty much on hold for the time being until we get some crew members back but we are loaded up with the best winter bugs for the MO along with plenty of cold weather gear and waders and boots and great gift ideas for all of the fly fishers on your list. Get your Christmas shopping done at the click of a button with Wolf Creek Angler gift cards good for anything and everything we sell.