Late December Missouri River Fishing Report
It almost feels spring-like out there this morning.
The gale force winds of the last couple of days have diminished (for the time being) and while it’s by no means warm we’re currently looking at a comfortable 20 degrees going up to near 30 this afternoon.
If you’re looking to close out 2016 with one more trip to the river today looks like your best bet. Temps remain fairly steady through the weekend but it looks like the winds will return tomorrow.
The new year will be ushered in with another arctic blast. We’ll be in the single digits for most of next week.
We’ve definitely reached winter water conditions with current water temps at just over 35 degrees and flows holding in the 3600 cfs range. Next week’s cold snap will likely drop the water temp even closer to that freezing mark so you may have to put your Missouri River winter fly fishing plans on hold for a while as we wait for a warm-up.
As the water temps drop the fish become extremely lethargic as their metabolism slows. Once the water temp drops below 35 degrees fishing becomes almost futile as the fish simply aren’t interested in eating or doing much of anything. The good news however is that a tick up a degree or two in these conditions can really turn things on as the fish emerge from their cold-induced lethargy to feed once again. They still won’t be overly active or aggressive but they are hungry so if you know where they’re at and you deliver the goods right to them you can have some pretty damn good days in the dead of winter.
The other nice thing about winter fishing is that you can pretty much run the same rig all winter long. If the fish are feeding they typically aren’t overly choosy. I’m currently running a #12 Pink Weight Fly with a #18 Pink Firebead Sow Bug and while I may play around with that trailing fly I’ll likely go with what I’ve got until I lose everything and then I’ll either replace it with the exact same rig or some variation thereof.
Some of our favorite winter bugs are Casne’s Pinkalicious, the aforementioned Pink Weight Fly, Ninch’s Bubble Yum Scud, Pink Amex, Rainbow Czech, Rainbow Weight Fly, Firebead Soft Hackle Sows, Pink Lightning Bugs, Firebead Rays, Caviar Scuds, Ninch’s Thunderbug….etc. Go Pink and Go Firebead and you can’t go wrong.
Swinging is also a popular option on the MO’ during the winter months but per the above, you’ll likely have more success with water temps above 35 degrees. Swinging versus stripping is key as those fish simply aren’t going to chase anything down with the water being as cold as it is. That being said, I’ve had some tremendous streamer days in 37 – 39 degree water with a SLOW strip. You can’t go wrong with Smallish Sparkle Minnows, Clousers, Kreelex, Polar Leeches and various buggers.
Dry Flies? Not so much at this point but as we roll into the heart of winter we’ll start to see some midge action so if winter dry fly fishing is your thing rig up a Hi-vis Parachute Adams trailed with a Griffiths Gnat, a midge cluster or a buzzball and have it at the ready.
If solitude is what you seek there’s plenty of it to be found out there right now. Keep an eye on the forecast and plan accordingly. We don’t anticipate much activity next week with holiday vacations winding down and sub freezing weather returning but the hard water fishing is starting to heat up on Holter so keep us in mind for lodging if you’re coming out to clean up on perch.
Once again we may not be around much in the shop next week if it’s as cold as what they are calling for but we are open EVERY DAY for lodging.
What a difference a couple of days makes! We’ve gone from “feels like” temps of -50 a couple of days a ago to highs near 40 today and tomorrow and it appears as though we’ll be above freezing all week until the next blast of cold air arrives on the weekend.
Current “Most Probable” projections look good for the 2017 water year on the Missouri with a nice steady 4000 cfs through the winter months and a peak of around 8,000 in June followed by low 4’s for the remainder of the season. Max probable shows something closer to 5K for the winter with a peak near 12K and evening out around 6K for the remainder of the season while Minimum Probable essentially mirrors what we saw in 2016 with steady flows at 3500 – 4000 cfs and no real peak to speak of in the spring. Fingers are crossed for Max Probable!
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