Summertime on the MO’

All is quiet this morning in a relative sense after a four day Fourth of July  weekend which peaked yesterday with more folks on the river (or at least in the Wolf Creek Bridge parking lot) than I think I’ve ever seen.

Standing Room Only with overflow lining the Beartooth Road. A ton of revelers, not so many anglers but in spite of all the traffic I saw no shortage of fish up yesterday. I’m sure they are enjoying this morning’s relative peace and quiet.

It’s going to be an early morning and late evening game for the next while as the heat wave continues. Mid to high 90’s, maybe even hitting 100 a time or two over the next 10 days with no real cool down in sight. Evenings have been pleasant enough with temps cooling into the low 60’s but with water temps hanging in the 63 degree range we’ve definitely hit summer conditions. Wet wading is definitely an option which is nice but with lower flows (currently 6460 cfs and headed to 5300 by this weekend) and warmer water you can also expect to be dealing with weeds. Check your bugs often, make sure that rig is clean!

Tricos are firing up and we should see fishable numbers soon. In the meantime plenty of caddis and ample PMD’s. Some have been doing the dry/dropper routine, a summertime favorite on the MO’, but as of yet I haven’t had much luck with it and haven’t heard any great reports but it should definitely be a component of your summer bag of tricks.

Nymphing has been good and is almost always going to be your best bet for numbers. Status quo on what to use. We like a gold or purple weight fly or a Tung Dart paired with a Psycho May, Little Green Machine, Split Case PMD, S & M or something of the sort. Don’t forget about zebra midges, especially in the dam to Wolf Creek stretch. Target the medium depth, faster water (4-6 feet deep) running 6′ or 7′ overall with a B split.  Also try shortleashing the fast shallows if the deeper rig isn’t producing.

We’ll be in zombie mode for the time being with pre-dawn and post-dusk boat launches and pickups every day. In between we’re doing what we can to  stay on top of things in the shop, trying to coax our guided clients into super early starts to avoid the heat and even getting out for a little fun fishing here and there if you can believe that.

We hope you make us your first stop on the way to the MO’ for shuttles, bugs, sun protection, ice and anything else you might need for your day on the water.