The weather we’ve been waiting for

Wind, snow, rain….we’ve had it all this weekend and some pretty damn good fishing to go along with it.

The forecast for 40 mph North winds on Saturday scared some people off. In fact we bought in and moved a couple of guide trips to Sunday. By most reports it really wasn’t that bad out there on Saturday. Things were calm in Wolf Creek and I think a little breezy on the water but nothing like what they had been calling for.

It sounds like those who stuck it out were rewarded with a solid afternoon both on top and below.

Streamers were effective yesterday as we anticipated they would be with Sculpin Sparkle Minnows and Polar Leeches in silver and Olive/Copper getting the most action. We’ve been selling a few folks on running the double streamer rig and it’s been working well. Try the Sparkle Minnow in tandem with a polar leech or Pine Squirrel leech. Hit the shelves and drop-offs, bomb the banks, work the buckets. Lots of water out there holding lots of fish and unfortunately holding a lot of weeds as well. It can be frustrating but if you stick with it and acclimate you may very well hook into a giant.

New to the streamer game? Come by the shop and grab a demo St Croix Bank Robber, quite possibly the best streamer stick ever made.

As per usual nymphing is where the numbers are. Weight flies,  Tung Darts or Czechs paired with your favorite baetis nymphs or a black zebra should do the trick. Stop by the shop on your way to the river and allow us to get you set up for your day on the MO. Got questions about rigging? Don’t be afraid to ask – we spend hours every day building and explaining how to build Missouri River rigs, it’s what we’re here for.

Even the DFO’s have been happy this weekend with some big time pseudo action. We’ve got plenty of pseudos and BWO’s to choose from on the dry side of the bin and we encourage you to try each and every one of them but should you choose to keep it simple a Parachute Adams trailed with a CDC Caddis emerger is hard to beat.

It looks like the sunshine will return this week with daytime highs in the 50’s and 60’s and while sunny days may not be exactly what we would like it is going to be a gorgeous autumn week on the Missouri and a busy one at that. No lodging vacancies at WCA for the week ahead but we do still have guides available daily  and we’d be happy to help you find lodging close by so give us a call and book your Missouri River fall fly fishing extravaganza today.

The shop is open daily at 7 AM with everything you need for your day on the water. Shuttles; boats; bugs; indicators galore (1/2″ and 3/4″ Air Locks back in stock Monday); cold weather gear from KAST, Outdoor Research and Redington; leaders; lines; and tippet from Rio, Airflo and Trout Hunter; rods from Echo and St Croix including the Bank Robber and High Stick Drifter; great deals on reels from Nautilus and Ross and much much more.