Sun Sets on Summer

photo by Sam Casne

There’s still about a month of summer remaining according to the calendar but that’s a mere formality. In our world, summer has all but ended and the sun is rapidly setting on the 2026 Missouri River summer season.

As happens this time of year, angling traffic has ground almost to a halt with rec floaters outnumbering drift boats three to one. There are a handful of guide trips still happening but many of us take advantage of the end of summer slowdown to unplug and unwind and prepare for the upcoming fall season which typically starts to kick in around the second week of September.

Half of the WCA crew have left for the season with school back in session. Couple this with the lull in lodging and it makes for some lonely days around the fly shop, so you’ll have to excuse us if we happen to abbreviate our hours on occasion over these next two weeks.

We bid a sad farewell to our awesome summer help Rudy and Sophie last week. Summer was a blast with these two!

It’s an interesting time of year on the Missouri, and one which is often overlooked by anglers so don’t tell anyone, but late August/early September are the sleeper of the season.
Granted, there are challenges that come with late summer fishing on the Missouri. Weeds are at their worst. Major bug hatches ware waning. Water temperatures can be marginal, and the combination of hot days and smoke can sometimes make for less than ideal conditions on the water.

But on the positive side…angling pressure is almost non-existent and between terrestrial fishing and nymphing you can often have banner days on the MO in late summer.

The zebra midge and sow bug feast is on in the grass flats below the dam, and we often catch some of our best brown trout of the season on hoppers or crayfish.
Bottom line – don’t sleep on late summer on the MO!

We’re currently looking at flows of 3490 CFS with water temperatures at the dam ranging from 63 – 66 degrees. Again, the weeds are a challenge, but overall, the conditions aren’t bad and the payoff can be great.

Small hoppers in tan, peach or yellow have been good (More or Less, Donkey Kong, Fancy Pants) and ants always seem to get a look or two. Drop a green machine or pheasant tail and hit the banks and the edges of the weed beds and the riffles.

Double sows or double zebras at the dam or try a Zirdle or Claws R with a purple weight fly, Tung Dart or October Caddis nymph.

They’ll eat the streamer this time of year, but this is where the weeds are going to challenge you the most. You must mentally prepare for streamer fishing the height of the weed season but again, if you can put up with the misery you could very well be rewarded with your fish of the year.

Need a room? We have an abundance of vacancies at the moment along with wide open availability for rental boats. Last-minute guided trips are still somewhat of a challenge with the aforementioned exodus currently ongoing, but we’ll do our best to get you on the water.

Shop hours are 7 AM – ???, usually 4 ish for the time being. We’ll resume normal hours as soon as traffic warrants it.

Stop by WCA for shuttles, hoppers, ice, sunscreen and anything you might need for your day on the MO. And tell your rec floater friends who don’t fish to stop driving multiple rigs to the river and stop by for the Cheapest Dam Shuttles on the MO! I guarantee you, at the current fuel prices it’s cheaper to buy a shuttle than drive that second rig.

Just something to keep in mind, with the light traffic we’ve been starting our shuttle runs around 11 AM and are typically wrapping up by 1 PM so that shuttle window is narrow at the moment. If you’re rolling in at 1 or 2 pm for your float we’re very likely done with shuttles for the day, so you’ll want to call ahead if you’re planning on getting shuttled anytime after noon.