Mid August Missouri River Fishing Report
Really a rosy outlook after yesterdays fishing here with your Mid August Missouri River Fishing Report from the information source in Craig Montana.
At least that is how I look at it. Trico show in the morning not as dismal as I had heard reported. Been a few days since I had been on the Mighty Mo and I was rewarded with better than expected fishing. A 10? No. But I feel like it was an 8 considering the time of year.
Traffic?
August has always been a slower month on the Missouri River as many if not most of the other great rivers in Montana are fishing well. Well this year as many of the recent years has those other rivers in dire straits. Lower water and higher water temps have them on Hoot Owl Closures.
Trico’s
So back to the Trico report. Good hatch, about a 4 on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the best. A good start to the day with a good non-windy morning and a good fall. Not a ton of fish up but being the only boat in my reach fishing the dry fly there were plenty of targets. Fished the dry until about noon. Flies that the fish seemed to like include the Rusty Spinner, Buzzball, small Elk Hair Caddis, and the Corn Fed Caddis. That was the ticket. At least yesterday.
Historically the Trico hatch will run through the month of August and into September. Last year we saw the Trico roll into late September. The longest duration that I can remember. Will it last that long this year? Oh, I don’t know. But maybe.
Post Trico Bite
Went to the obvious choice of a baby Chubby followed by an ant for the remainder of the day. We did drop a PT off of the back for a spell as well. That worked in a couple seams that we stopped on, eddied out ,and tossed the fly back upstream. Got a few on that dropper. Rocket science fishing style. A Pheasant Tail. A big one. A 14 with a Tungsten Bead attached. Genius? No not really. Standard Issue Stuff.
Fished the blind hopper with the dry dropper through 18″-36″ of quicker water for the last couple hours. Good success with that rig. Both crashy strikes and soft sippy takes. Be ready for both. A few did the disappearing act. That is where the fly just magically sinks out of sight. That is a fish. The fish sucks it down into his gullet. I like that take.
Browns and Bows both on the blind dry fly.
Weed?
The weeds not as bad as they have been int he past few August periods. Not as much of the gooey subsurface shit that can inundate your bobber rig this time of year. The short leash is fishing well and the deep rig is producing as well. Scuds, Worms, Rubber Legs, Crawfish, Sows, Czechs, PT’s, Zebra’s, and the many versions of slender bodied mayfly nymphs are all in play.
The entire river is fishing well with many enjoying the canyon. Historically the Dam is stuffed with anglers in late August and September but not this year. Still spread out across the board. Enjoy whatever reach you are familiar with, or break out and try something new.
Mid August Missouri River Fishing Report
The water levels are about normal. A bit low for our liking, but we have very little absolutely none control over that. The water levels are currently 3800 cfs. Much better than a number of our river friends in Montana.
The water temps are in the below normal range too. In recent years it has certainly been much warmer than it is right now. 
63F is not too bad at all. It really could me much worse. So we hope that we continue down this road for the remainder of the month. The warmer weather this weekend may spike the mercury but next week it will be lower than average. Hooray.
Headhunters Fly Shop & Guide Service
Open daily 6am til 9pm. Your best fly shop coverage in Montana. Guides out daily. Shuttles til late, well after the other shops close. Izaaks’ open every day but Monday at 5pm. Daily specials to die for! Joe’s Bar daily at 8am for your eye-openers.
If you need lodging in the Missouri River corridor look up www.CraigLodging.com for well over 20 local lodging options.
Lots of fall clothing in stock as the air temps turn towards fall. The Sage X in stock in both the 5 and 6 weights. Come in and demo one for the day. You will enjoy. Headhunters has a full line of Demo rods for your pleasure. Dozens in fact. Try it out on the water for a true feel. Why not fight a few fish with your demo rod. Or if you want you can cast it at the Craig Casting Lane here on site.
Fall fly lines in stock as well. Need a new nymphing line, dry fly line, or a streamer line? RIO, Airflo, SA, Wulff and more Trout Spey lines including the popular OPST and RIO 2 handed lines. We got demo’s as well!
Enjoy your August fishing. Give us a call for an up to the minute fishing, weather, or wind report. Addicted anglers standing by…
