Guest Report from WCA Guide Jim Murray

Fellow WCA Guide, Matt Hargrave and I decided to get out on a last minute recon trip this past weekend to see if we could find a few fish in the Canyon. While the wind made the fishing and rowing challenging at times, we definitely put our fair share of fish in the net. The water levels have dropped, while the water temps have risen, and the fish seem to be doing exactly what you would expect in these situations. Moving out of the slow, deep runs, and into shallower, faster runs. We caught a number of fish right on the hard banks in fairly fast water. Shelf lines and current seams, as always, were productive as well.
At times the river was blanketed with both midges and baetis, but not many fish were looking up. That said, for those anglers wishing to target heads, there are pods of fishing working in the right areas, willing to eat a properly presented midge cluster or BWO parachute. The dry fly bite is definitely happening on the Missouri right now, and only figures to get better and better as April turns to May.
Hot nymphs for the day included a Rainbow Czech and a small Hogan S&M. That’s it. We never had the need to try other patterns. We set our rig in the morning and fished it all day, as fish happily ate both flies.
Although we didn’t throw any streamers, we have been hearing mixed reports on those that do. The streamer junkies love to the throw the meat and are having some success, but it seems to be hit or miss. A lot of changing flies, patterns, colors, etc., hoping to find the magic combo that will get the fish into an aggressive mood.
All in all a great day on the water with a great buddy, topped off with a couple of Blackfoot River IPA’s at the end of the day at Izaak’s in Craig. The season is upon us. We’re ready!
One other note: We had the chance to fish the Strike Foundry Stealth Indicator on Sunday, and really liked it. It worked as advertised, and proved very sensitive to help detect subtle strikes. We used the “In Line” rigging method and found that it performed flawlessly. For all you nymph junkies out there (count me in), you might want to give this indicator a try. I know I’ll have a few in my boat this year. Check them out at WCA!