Friday Foto Fishing Report 11.12.21

Weather straightened out with more seasonable conditions throughout the week and weekend ahead of us. A good time to come on out and fish a little.

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The River Hap’s

Trout Spey trips out all week long here in Craiglandia with some dry fly anglers snooping around as well. Bits and pieces of the dry fly game with local occurrences sometimes surprising with the action for an hour or two. The swingers are wandering around with liberties never before witnessed. The access to high quality water is really quite amazing this fall heading towards winter.

Truly a treat to enjoy the spoils of alter fall here in Craig. A deep breath of fresh air coupled with that tug we chase.

Lots of lodging open. Lots of river too.

Flows holding at that 3K range. But sorry of up and down according to the chart below as it moves magically around the 2600cfs to 3000cfs region without reason and beyond.

Water temperatures continue to drop as the weeks pass us by. Below 50F and will not see that temp again til April ’22. A good month of temps int he 40’s ahead of us. An enjoyable period ahead.

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Bobber Lobbers

The nymphers still rocking the scud/sow combo to epic success. Short from boat ramp to boat ramp. Go out there and discover the other side of the river whether you be on foot or on the drift. Some as short as two feet from bobber to bottom fly. Others land somewhere between 2′-4′ for the entire length. Find your sweet spot and don’t be afraid to adapt as the conditions change through out the day.

Just because your rig worked this morning does not mean success at other end of the day. Adaptive behaviors are the key.

Take the Time to Improve

The ability to wander as mentioned above is a benefit. Take the time to walk and look around a for a period. Without fishing. That time is priceless in the knowledge of sub-surface structures etching them in your brain. Making that watery topography map adds fish to the net when the water will not be as transparent. Those armed with that mind of knowledge, history, mental maps can dominate wisen the waters is higher. Yep. Valid.

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I truly believe that the quickest path to angling consistency is the understanding of the bottom of the river. If you know where fish live, hold, rest, feed, etc, you have a hand up on the enemy. Smart anglers take the time to invest in their future. They practice, watch, walk, let it all soak in.

Take a global approach to catching fish. Harness the available information and capitalize on the trout catching equation.

Or not. Your choice. I for one have been enjoying the opportunities to walk and look and watch expand the depth of my river comprehension. I’m not the only one. No, no sir. You should be one of those smart anglers too.

You give your self on opportunity to see the not so obvious. Yeah, when wanting around you find yourself with that glazed look.

It is when you are not looking for anything, that you find something.

Double quotes today. That is big time. 

Dry Fly Report

The dry fly bite is not terribly hot. Due to the lack of bugs on the surface. But as many opportunities as we would like. But the weather for the next five does look promising. Shuttles, flies, dry fly banter all at the shop daily open at 8am.

The normal flies do apply when you do find yourself enjoying the lips of a beautiful dry fly slurping rainbow. Cripples will do the trick. But with the non-pressure of rising trout, a bigger pattern should do the trick. We like of the Adams. But one of the coolest things about trout fishing is that you can catch the fish on the flies that you like. Many like CDC tipped dry flies. Whether is be a cripple or a dun, or a shortened CDC component on the emerger patterns we so love here in central Montana.

With the low water why would you not employ a dry-dropper rig? You could put the second fly anywhere you desire in the water column. Dependent on the length fo the dropper tippet and the weight or un-weighted pattern variety. I love to have a longer unweighted fly dangling from the bend at 24″-30″ Uncomfortably long is my desired length.

You can choose though. Some tie it off really short. 6″ from an Adams with a tiny Zebra. That works too. How about a Tailwater Sow (un-weighted) hung 30″ from that Adams? Probably my favorite rig to fish in that super skinny water when the lights are dimmed. Near dusk and when the clouds do their part obscuring the mean old autumn sun.

Fool around with this concept for a day or a week and find your perfect depth and rigging technique. Lots of cool minute tungsten beaded pattens to choose from these days. The Best Flies Under the Big Sky available at your favorite Craiglandia retailer central business district titled Headhunters Fly Shop.

Strippers and Swingers

As I mentioned above we have a bundle of Trout Spey anglers not eh beach this week. More ahead too. s combination of Skagit and Scandi anglers with the Skagit anglers plying the depths of the troughs and the Scandi line fans focussing not he upper half of the water column.

Not as many on the soft hackle as the bugs have not played along this fall yet. But a few. Bigger wets including Sparrows and Carey’s and leeches for the dry liners. Bigger fare for the sinking tips with larger flies spoken about apes fish around the campfire.

Wade-ability is at its peak here fishing the Mo. Get out there and explore.

Stop in and let us chat about the latest hot flies, patterns, run types and depth before you step into the river. Open daily at 8am.

Tips, lines, running lines, flies, accessories, reels, rods, all available at the Trout Spey Mega Store in Craig.

The strippers been liking the bigger flies. Flashy too. And starting to explore the depths of some of those sexy troughs out there. Even with the lower flows there are some 6′ deep runs and buckets that deserved to be scraped.

Walk and cast and sander with those sink tips too.

Headhunters Fly Shop Fall Program

Open daily 8am-5pm. Shuttles Daily. Rental Boat. Nightly Lodging. Flies. Handwarmers. Trout Spey Gear. Casting Lessons. Guided Trout Spey and single handed trips daily. Free Coffee. Friendly faces.