Chewy with a fine Missouri River winter specimen
The river has been quiet this week despite spring-like temps in the high 40’s and low 50’s . There’s been a bit of wind to contend with but overall the weather has been very conducive to winter fishing.
Those who have been out have been reporting varying degrees of success on nymphs, streamers and even a bit of dry-fly action with the midges starting to get going. If winter dry-fly fishing is your game you can expect those opportunities to present themselves with more frequency and more consistency from here on out.
The flows are up to almost 3800 today which we’re definitely happy to see and with the water temperature having bumped to just shy of 35 degrees you might expect an uptick in the action as sometimes all it takes is a degree or two to flip the switch and get those fish eating.
If you follow the various Missouri River blogs year-round you know that there is a fair amount of space devoted to fluctuations in flows and water temps as well as current weather and what’s in the forecast during the winter months. With the exception of midge activity there’s not much to say about bug life and while the nymph report may seem like a cut and paste job it really is a status quo fishery during the winter months so that list of effective flies simply doesn’t change a whole lot.
The streamer report can provide some variation but even the streamer guys tend to stick to a pattern for a long while once they find something that is working. I fished a brown polar leech for a month straight last winter and it worked most days. The winter fishing reports may be lacking in excitement but the winter fishing is not!
We love fishing this time of year, partly because of the solitude it affords, partly because it’s status quo nymphing but mostly because it can be really good on any given day. That being said, it can also be really slow but when it’s 45 degrees and sunny in January what else would you possibly want to be doing? You don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what it is they are eating, you just need to figure out where they’re at and hope they are hungry. Once you find fish willing to eat you can often times do very well working that same run over and over again. Mind you, I’m not talking about 40 fish days. I’m sure people have them but we’re generally happy with a couple of hookups and if we boat a dozen or better it’s been an awesome day.
So…with that long-winded defense of regurgitative winter blogging the winter nymphs you should STILL be using are Pink Amex, Rainbow Czechs, Casne’s Pinkalicious, Pink Lightning Bugs, any kind of firebeads (particularly of the soft hackle sow variety) and if you’re feeling adventurous a tailwater sow, a rainbow warrior or the good old black zebra midge will all catch fish right now. With all that pink you can expect to catch your share of whitefish but there’s no shame in that. Full Disclosure – I do include whiteys in my fish counts, why wouldn’t you? I happened to put on a whitey clinic on Monday. It’s winter fishing on the Missouri!
The water you should STILL be fishing is the slow to semi-slow medium depth winter water. The last few times out the fish have been in a little bit faster water than what they had been but this changes from day to day. They are somewhere in those winter runs, work them until you find them.
Hot streamers have been the gold and silver Kreelex, Olive and Copper or Brown Polar leeches, and all kinds of Clouser variations. Fish the slender bugs SLOW and you should find some willing players. Don’t be afraid to try other streamers either. The ones we list are the ones we’ve been selling a bunch of and that we’ve heard have been effective but there are all kinds of streamers that will work. Fish the bugs you like, fish them with confidence and sooner or later you will be rewarded.
Buzzballs, Griffiths Gnats and Quigley’s Peacock Clusters are all good midge imitations. I like to rig any of them in tandem with a parachute Adams and have that rig at the ready just in case.
We’re going to close out the week with another 50+ degree day today, 40’s tomorrow and into the weekend and a return to somewhat more seasonable temps early next week in the low 30’s.
We’ve still got lodging available for the weekend but it will more than likely fill by tomorrow. Give us a call today and book your $99 room and $400 guide trip.
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