Missouri River April May Fly Fishing Forecast
No foolin’ today on the HH Blog. Your information source on the Montana’s Majestic Missouri River. Keep us in mind as you pass through Craig this spring. The friendly fly shop in Craig!
Snow on the ground. Melting. A skiff yesterday. More forecast for the weekend ahead in the form of snow, ,up to a foot! Bring it. Still light on our average for the winter. As we often ask, do your snow dance today, April Fools, and bring more precipitation to our drainage.
Looks like a good spring ahead. The anglers have been reporting good to great winter/spring fishing action and we believe this will continue. Shuttles daily, lots of new stock including the best in flies on the river. Lots of new patterns that our trout have not seen including all of the cool Euro Nymphs that the indicator anglers love. Sink fast, durable, and fishy! Also, your Trout Spey Headquarters is located here at Headhunters of Craig. The largest selection of trout spey lines, bar none, rods, reels, and accessories. Guides too!
Missouri River Bugs April & May
Midges: Through the month into May. Better than average Midge action this year. Anglers have been pretty stoked for 6 weeks already. It should continue this month as we head into a decent dry fly period here in early April. The weather looks seasonal! Fish clusters, individuals, or in conjunction with droppers. You can find the fish rising in pond like areas as well as seam lines. But mostly the soft water insides where the midges are buzzin’ around on the surface.
BWO’s: Mid April into mid June sometimes. But mostly through the end of May. The best and most consistent of the spring bugs. Afternoons are the time when you will see them come off. 2pm and later. They start on the lower river and move uphill. And they have started. So expect more bugs as the month moves on.
Seams, insides, and flats. Sipping trout love this insect. Mayflies are a Missouri River staple. The Blue Winged Olive is one of our favorites. 42F river temp is the start. We are at that now.
Patterns? Cripples, emergers, spinners and duns. Find the rivers best selection at Headhunters in Craig. Not only do we provide the honest info, more than occasionally, we have the best bug selection too. Stop in and see our expert shop staff for friendly bug information including the only free large format map on the river.
Not one BWO showing as of yet. Water temps too cool for them to show on the surface. But, dig around in the weeds and you will find them. Been subsurface for some time now. Patterns of that ilk should begin to influence your fly selection. Stop in to check out our large selection of not only mayfly nymphs but a comprehensive selection of
March Browns: Mid May. Look for them int he canyon first. A few runs harbor this great bug. A couple weeks on the outside is all we see. So be ready. Mottled winged March Browns are a mayfly that the fish go nuts over. Most keep this one under their hat. Specific patterns available at HH will help you fish with confidence. An Adams will get it done if needed.
Mother’s Day Caddis: Early to Mid May. Sometimes later. Mid Canon and below. X Caddis is all you need. A film fly is not a bad idea either. Big Brown Trout get amped up man. This is a great one and short lived too.
Missouri River April and May Weather
Variable. That is the definitive answer. As many, most, if not all of you know that you should come the Mo with your best spring arsenal. Rain jackets, snow clothing, gloves, neck protection, hand warmers, Thermos’, sunscreen, sun hats, multiple layers…whatever you can stuff in your pack or luggage!
Averages above. We van have rain, snow, sleet, wintry mix, wind, and sun too. Obviously the warmer weather warms the water. The cold ass weather cools it rapidly too. It takes far longer to increase water temps than it does to cool it off.
So come prepared for battle fishing here in Craig Montana. I know I have been ill prepared a few days already this spring. It takes a beating to remind me that summer is not here, and winter is not over.
This last week we have had 70F and windy sun all the way to 3″ of snow and sleet on the river. That is a wide range!
Missouri River April May Fly Fishing Forecast
And there you have it. Our current and future situation here on Montana’s Missouri River. A comprehensive look at the months ahead. We love spring here in downtown Craig. It brings life to us after a below average water and above average temps winter. Friends, anglers, smiles, laughter, and the smell of trout…whitefish too!
Give us a call at the shop on our Trout Hotline 8am for more info if this does cover enough information. And it may not. We love to talk about trout here at Headhunters Fly Shop. 406-235-3447
Headhunters is your source for entertainment, information, education and customer service on this one of a kind trout fishing resource.
