It’s been pretty much Status Quo these last couple of weeks on the Missouri. No dramatic changes in the weather, no dramatic changes in the flows or water temps. The fishing has been pretty good on some days, pretty slow on others, definitely lacking consistency.
The dam seems to be heating up and consequently will be where you find most of the traffic right now though it’s far from what we would call busy. As you would expect nymphing is going to be your best bet for putting fish in the boat. #20 Black Zebras (black or silver bead) have been effective run in tandem with a tan UV or Rainbow Czech, Pheasant Tail, Dark Peep Show, BWO Magic Fly, LGM, brown 2 Bit etc. Cray Fish have reportedly been working some days so a Claws R or Snapping Cray wouldn’t be a bad call but personally I haven’t had much luck with the Crays as of late.
Everyone’s got their favorite rig right now. Some are doing really well short leashing, others are running deep rigs. We’ve been running medium length rigs in shallowish faster water without weight and picking up plenty of fish. If you aren’t getting them in spots you think you should be, adjust the length/weight of your rig a few times before switching bugs out. Not that the bugs don’t make a difference….they definitely do, but we find more often than not that it’s the length/weight of the rig rather than the bug selection that makes the biggest difference.
Streamer fishing was definitely the talk around the shop last week with Olive and White being the ticket, though we heard of some success on flashy copper stuff as well. ZK’s Stun Gun in Olive was the meal ticket for several days late last week but we also heard good reports on the Circus Peanut, Skiddish Smolt, Keller’s Late Night Wanda. ZK’s Son of Bunny all in olive and of course Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow both the Sculpin and JJ. The cloudy days are better streamer days as you would expect but that being said, we’ve had plenty of action on the bright sunny days as well so don’t let the sun get you down!
Dry fly fishing has fallen off though Hoppers and ants are getting eaten with some regularity. There are still plenty of Tricos around on a daily basis but finding fish on them continues to be a challenge. If you want to play the dry fly game we suggest sticking with hoppers and/or ants. Purple, Tan, Yellow or Pink More or Less or Moorish Hoppers, Grape Fat Franks and Purple Yeti Hoppers in #08 or #10 have all been effective. Black or Cinnamon Ants and Blooms Stealth Ant in purple should all be found in your terrestrial box.
Fish streamers, fish hoppers, fish nymphs…..they’re all effective right now.
Traffic should remain fairly light this week though we are expecting a lot of folks around for the Labor Day weekend so if its solitude you seek we recommend getting out here sometime between now and Thursday. We’ve got a couple of rooms left for the holiday weekend and then things open up starting on Tuesday. Slowly but surely you’ll see a bump in the angler traffic over the next couple of weeks. By mid-September (or sooner with the Yellowstone closure) it will resemble July and will hopefully be fishing great.
Give us a call today and book your Montana Fall Fly Fishing Adventure on the MO’.
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