Small Dries, Shallow Water, BIG FISH! Photo courtesy of Rick Wen

We turned the corner on Monday and so commences the march towards winter darkness as daylight recedes from here on out.

Not to worry though. Winter is a LONG way off. Summer is here and we’re hitting our PRIME TIME stride.

Dry Fly Season is here with ample opportunities via Pale Morning Duns and Caddis to those on the hunt. It’s the time of year where expectations tend to be exceedingly high while successful outcomes are often times lagging behind.

Whether it’s a lack of targets or trouble sealing the deal with rising fish, the MO has the power to humble even the savviest dry fly angler. Bugs have not been a problem in 2021. Hatches have been consistent providing an abundance of food. Rising fish however, have been somewhat hard to come by. Those putting in the time and effort have been able to piece together some decent dry fly days and many of the fish we’re catching show no sign of malnourishment. Quite the opposite in fact. So they’re obviously gorging themselves on bugs somewhere at some time. Your challenge is to figure out the when and the where, to keep those expectations in check, to bring your A Game and to make that first cast count. Definitely easier said than done but it’s what’s demanded of you by the Mighty MO.

So while it’s obviously dry fly season, nymphing has been plenty good as of late with caddis and PMD nymphs getting it done. A purple weight fly trailed with a Split Case PMD has been money but there are all manner of bugs you could be using right now. Tung Darts, Peep Shows and Frenchies all working well as the lead fly. Crack Backs, Magic Flies, PMD Redemption, PMD Psycho May, Little Green Machines, Gold Lighting Bugs and straight up Pheasant Tails all worthy trailers.

Best Selling PMD dries have been the Hi Vis Spinner, CDC Spinner, Rusty Spinner, Film Critic, Flash Cripple, Hellen Keller, CDC Emerger and Brooks Sprout PMD while Outrigger, Cornfed, Stockingfoot, Iceberg and MO River CDC Caddis have all been on the move along with the classic CDC Caddis Emerger.

River flows are low, perhaps as low as you’ve ever seen them at 3160 CFS and the water temps are warming rapidly, currently at just over the 60 degree mark. Please keep these conditions in mind when playing, landing and handling our fish. Traffic is heavy and flows will remain where they’re at for the remainder of the season which means stressed fish.

Hot weather is on the way, with triple digits looming early next week. Fish early, fish late. Leave the heat of the day to the rec crowd.

Shop hours are 7 AM – 6 PM daily.