Coming out of the holiday weekend we feel great. Lots of anglers around on Saturday as the weather cooperated the first time in months. Sunny, calm, and just right!
As the week moves onward we see temps drop and precip increase. Just like winter is supposed to be.
[forecast]As for the fishing report. It is good. As good as it can be in the gusty winds we witnessed and felt the last couple days. It did not stop our fishy guests from staying at the cabins here at Craig Trout Camp. Again all 3 on the property rented this weekend. You want to come on out this next weekend? Give us a call and get into a room for a mere 100 bucks!
We got the full package for you here at Headhunters Fly Shop. Lodging, fly shop, shuttles, flies, and a helluva river. The Missouri River.
Missouri River Montana Fishing Report 2.18.14
The nymphing is the strong suit these days. Always is in the winter months. The fish sit, hug the bottom and wait for spring to arrive. Just like us. Hunkered down. The water temps will rise next month. Sometime.
Until then wight he sporadic at best midge hatches we are happy to nymph. The keys to success include the color and shade of red we fondly call Pink. Pink Amex, Rainbow Czech, Red Zebra, Flashy Red Midge Pupa’s, Black Zebra’s, FB’s, Pink LB’s are coming on strong that Dangerous Dan Gard brought to the Missouri River a number of ears ago. Thanks Dan!
Bobber and split shot will help your plight towards the bottom. We have been finding fish in slow, dead slow, medium slow, and even some medium speed runs. Stay away from the faster good looking stuff until summer greets us with air temps in the 70’s.
Dry fly anglers have been shut down this last weekend with the damn wind. It was only blowing into the mid 20’s with gusts that felt like they may knock you down.
The streamer slingers and 2 handed swingers have been keeping busy with Clousers, Kreelex in a few differing flavors, Skiddish Smolts, sz 6 R2R’s, jigged patterns, and many more in our stuffed streamer fly bins…stop in soon for an update in our shop in regards to flies.
While other fly shops are content with keeping things the same we certainly are not here in Craig Montana. Many are comfortable with no changes…it makes our skin crawl to be stalled. Moving forward, keeping things fresh for you the guest, and pushing the envelope is what we are known for. Yep, we are bringing it in 2014!
Water flows are normal for a cold winter without any water left in the reservoir hovering around the mid 3000 cfs mark. Water temps in the 34.5F area.
Water for the summer months is looking good. Lots and lots and lots of calls about summer flows. Well, we don’t know. Only Mother Nature knows. We do know this. If the ground is saturated when the water comes off of the hills and we get normal precip for the months of April, May, and June we will be normal or above. If the earth is bone dry when the water comes off the hills, then we will be below normal. It is that simple.
If you want to find out more information see Grant Grisak’s presentation at Montana Wild February 26th 7pm. We will see you there for an update on the State of Missouri River.
Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service open daily from 8am. Your only full time Missouri River Fly Shop providing free useful river information, casting lessons, shuttles daily, demo rods galore, the utmost in fly selection, and the fun fly shop staff that you love!