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Overcast day on Hemingway’s Flat

I was reminded last night how important it is to keep things in perspective when reporting on fishing conditions.

We are fully committed to honesty with this blog, probably to a fault. We’ll tell you when and where it’s good. We’ll tell you when and where it’s not. It’s a pretty simple concept.

Reporting that the fishing is slow doesn’t do a lot to bring people here but reporting that it’s great when it really isn’t is in my opinion far worse for long-term growth.

I’ve been painting a pretty rosy picture of things these last few days and I stick by those reports. If you follow our blog at all you know we tell it like it is.

I was out last night for a while and ran into a guy who told me he hadn’t caught a fish all day. He’d been out there since the early afternoon and hadn’t had a strike. He had tried a bunch of different nymphs and also threw dries at a few sporadic risers and hadn’t had any luck.

So this is the wildcard. Yes it has been really good overall but sometimes individual experience differs from the overall and this being the case if you happened to read a few Missouri River reports that were proclaiming how hot the fishing is and you came out and had a day where you got blanked then you might think the folks writing those reports were at best exaggerating but possibly even blatantly lying about fishing conditions just to get customers into their shops.

I’ll go on the record right now saying we will NEVER do that and I don’t know of anyone else who would do it either. We have all had tough days where it’s just not happening but it’s important to look at the overall conditions and the overall success or lack thereof that people are having. Guides usually put their clients on fish – they are professionals and it’s their job. We don’t base our reports strictly on what the guides are doing.

The nice thing about having a shop and lodging is that we get the whole spectrum of experience with our customers.  On any given day we’ve got total beginners and seasoned vets who’ve been fishing the Missouri forever and everything in between so we generally have a pretty good sense of what’s happening out there based on our conversations with our guests and shop customers. We get the guide reports and we’re out there fishing ourselves so we factor all of this in to our reports. If, based on all of these reports, we’re telling you the fishing is good then you can believe it really is. That being said, there’s always the chance that things will be different tomorrow and there’s also the chance that you might just have a tough day in spite of the overall conditions.

So – following this wordy disclaimer the collective report from yesterday was that things were “pretty good”. Not on fire, but good nonetheless. Good nymphing, not much on dries and a decent streamer bite.

We’ll stick with calling it good for the time being.

Give us a call at the shop for up-to-the minute reports and conditions. We are your source for the daily skinny on the MO’.

The shift has occurred.

Sometime over the last few days LATE season arrived.

The weather is fine. The fishing is really good and destined to get better over the next couple of weeks.

Mornings in the shop are still bordering on bustling, depending on the day.

There are some folks around.

Wolf Creek and Craig have not exactly reached Ghost Town status just yet but there’s definitely a different feel to things this week.

The parking lots at the boat ramps are starting to look pretty empty and post 11 am in the shop has definitely taken on that winter vibe.

This is the time of year we shift gears as we acclimate to shorter days and much less traffic.

It’s the natural progression of the season. It’s not a bad thing. It just takes some time to adjust.

That being said there is no reason you shouldn’t be here right now. Once again, we could be looking at some of the best fishing of the season in the coming weeks so book those rooms and boats and guides….it could be off the charts.

Yes your dining options are dwindling by the day but don’t let that stop you. After all if you’re coming here in late October/early November you’re coming here for the fishing, not the culinary experience.

The Oasis is open Thursday – Tuesday and there are other dining out options if you don’t mind traveling, one of which is the Beef N Bone in Ulm which I went to last night for the first time. It’s definitely a bit of a drive but absolutely worth it. A great steak for sure!

Another option you have any day of the year at Wolf Creek Angler is to bring your own food and prepare your own meals right in your cabin or bungalow. We’ve got full kitchen units with full size refrigerators, microwaves, ranges and access to gas grills. Sure you have to do the work yourself but with darkness arriving earlier every day you’ll have plenty of time for cooking.

The late fall and winter seasons are when Wolf Creek shines. We’ve got the only open restaurant and the only gas station between Helena and Cascade, not to mention the only place to buy daily essentials including an awesome Montana Microbrew selection at the Canyon Store.

Couple that with a fully stocked, full service Missouri River Fly Shop with lodging available 365 days a year located just minutes from Holter Dam and Wolf Creek Bridge and you’ve got your late season fly fishing destination. Why would you go anywhere else?

I’m getting ahead of myself. We definitely have yet to descend into the depths of winter but we hope you keep us in mind as the shift continues.

In the meantime we’ve got a breather today (meaning plenty of open lodging) but things fill up again tomorrow for the weekend though we do have a room or two still available so make that call today.

We hope to see you soon at WCA.

Good reports from yesterday though we did hear the morning nymphing was challenging, at least in the dam to Wolf Creek section. It sounds like things improved as the day went on however and dry fly reports from the afternoon/evening were encouraging to say the least.

We try hard to not paint too rosy of a picture for you and you can always expect honesty in our reporting on this blog but no matter what happened out there yesterday or what’s happening out there today it might not, and likely won’t be the same tomorrow so we encourage you as always to keep your expectations realistic. That being said, I have no problem saying that overall the fishing is REALLY good right now and that if you were looking for a time to come fish the MO when you would more than likely experience some incredible fishing this would be that time.

The fishing is good and should continue to improve as we head into late October/early November. You couldn’t ask for better weather. Plenty of cloud cover, day time highs in the 50’s and overnight lows in the high 30’s/low 40’s. Ideal conditions for fall fishing. Currently just over 53 degrees, the water temp is creeping downward daily. Cold water, cool temps and cloudy skies….perfect conditions for BWO’s and while we can’t predict the future and won’t attempt to do so, it’s a safe bet that the big bugs will start popping sooner rather than later.

We’ve got a window from Sunday to Wednesday next week with a fair amount of lodging available before things fill up again on Thursday so this would be your opportunity to get in on the action. As we’ve mentioned before, 2016 is turning out to be one of the better fall fishing seasons we’ve seen in a while so we hope you can make it.

Give us a call today and book your Missouri River Fall Fly Fishing Odyssey. We would love to have you as our guest and even if you aren’t staying with us you need look no further than Wolf Creek Angler for everything you need for your day on the water. Vehicle Shuttles, Adipose and RO Drift Boat Rentals, cold weather gear from SIMMS and KAST,  bins overflowing with all of the bugs you need for the MO and much more.

The secret is out…fall fishing on the Missouri is as good as you had hoped and dreamed it would be….probably even better.

Traffic is up, lodging is full and though it is a super busy month on the MO’ you don’t need to worry about over-crowding. There is plenty of water and there are plenty of fish and while you should expect to see some folks out there you shouldn’t have any trouble finding your water.

Nymphing is crazy good right now. So good that more often than not this last while you have likely come away from the river each evening feeling like you are a better angler than what you actually are…..me too!

Fish are eating right now. They are eating nymphs, they are eating dry flies and despite what you may have heard elsewhere, they are consistently eating streamers. That being said, those who are into the streamer thing are well aware that they could dramatically increase their numbers by switching to a nymphing rig but that’s really not what we’re after.

We get a lot of folks asking what the HOT streamer is and while we do have a few go-to patterns we’re happy to put in your hands we encourage you to spend some time perusing the bins. There’s a lot going on in those bins, a lot to look at. Find the ones you like, picture the way they’re going to swim and picture that 2′ brown on the hunt chasing down that bug. If it’s not difficult to see this scenario in your mind’s eye then you’ve likely found your bug.

We’ll tell you what we know about effective colors and sizes and we’ll tell you what we’ve been catching fish on but ultimately it’s up to you to try to think like a trout and find your quarry.

Sow Bugs of all varieties continue to be by far the most frequently purchased bugs for the past week or so followed by a host of mayfly nymphs. Tailwater Sows (with our without the bead), soft hackle sows in gray or pink, Snack Nasty Sows, Firebead Sows…..I’m not sure it really matters which pattern on most days but #14’s or 16’s are the sizes with which we’ve been doing well.

Green Machines, 2 Bits, Military Mays, Magic Flies, Jujus, Rainbow Czechs, Rainbow Warriors, Peep Shows, PsychoMays, Zebras, Worms…tons of stuff working right now.

Keep your fingers crossed for big bugs and in the mean time keep throwing your Parachute Adams and Tiny Olive Pseudos and CDC Caddis Emergers etc.

We’re here every day for all of your Missouri River Fly Fishing needs and to answer a frequently asked question….we DON’T close for the winter so go ahead and consider us your year-round Missouri River fly fishing headquarters. More on-site lodging than anyone, the hardest working guide crew on the river, a fully stocked fly shop and a staff of two fully dedicated to doing whatever we can to make your experience on the MO’ and beyond a success. We LOVE this place, we know you do too.  And yes,  we do know how lucky we are to be able to live and work in this place doing what we love and loving what we do.

Thank you for making this happen!

Enjoy the sunshine today. Fall weather in store for the week ahead.

Grab your dry fly rods and streamer sticks and head for the MO’.

We like what we’re seeing in this fishy forecast, you should too.

Make us your Missouri River fly fishing one stop shop. More on-site lodging than anyone, the best guides on the river, RO and Adipose Drift Boat rentals, all of your fall fly fishing essentials from SIMMS, Redington, KAST, Smith, Fishpond, ARC, RIO, LOOP, Ross and many more.

Wolf Creek Angler is your Missouri River Montana fall fly fishing destination!