We’re just over a week into our first Arctic Blast of 2025 and as you would expect All is Quiet on the MO.

With current temps hanging around 20 below we’re seeing the worst of it right now. A high near 7 expected today before we plunge back into the negatives tonight but the heat arrives on Wednesday with a high of 8 and overnight lows of 1. Snow showers expected on Friday but the weekend will see a return to tolerable with temperatures back in the 30’s heading into next week.

Prior to the Deep Freeze fishing was good, especially on the nymphing side, with Pill Poppers, Tailwater Sows and Pederson’s Sow doing most of the damage. Those committed to the dry fly were also reporting varying levels of success on the calmer days and evenings and while I assume the swingers were hooking up at moderate rates as they do, our last streamer outing prior to the arctic blast, though extremely short-lived, was unsuccessful.

I’d expect to see a brave angler or two around next week as cabin fever has started to set in for many, but with iced up guides still a constant, I’ll personally be holding out for warmer days.

It’s hard to think about it when worrying about frozen plumbing and the like but the season is rapidly approaching. Spring is just over a month away and while it may feel like we’re firmly in winter’s grip at the moment, we’re literally weeks away from the start of the season.

Hopefully between now and then we see a bunch of snow and avoid any major thaws as we’re still in major need of the moisture but it’s looking better now than it had been for most of the winter. Keep it coming.

 

It’s always fun to complain about the cold but honestly, I’m ok with it and I hope it hangs around. I don’t necessarily need to see a bunch more of 20 below, but I’d be fine with winter hanging on until mid to late March. Bring it!

We’re putting the final touches on rounding out our crew for the season and getting a plan in the works for when to start opening up the lodging. Soon the shop will be full of boxes of new gear to unpack and check in and we’ll have to begin to re-acclimate to what’s it’s like to actually have customers coming through the door on a regular basis.

For now it’ll continue to be hit and miss with shop hours as there’s simply not much reason to be here on days like today save checking the status of the aforementioned plumbing but as soon as the weather dictates we will be back with normal hours and daily shuttle service. We’ll let you know when that’s going to be just as soon as we know.

In the meantime we hope you’re staying warm and we urge to you use extreme caution if you do venture out to the river anytime soon as shelf ice has definitely taken hold out there.