Missouri River Post Tax Day Report

Missouri River Post Tax Day Report

Not only is the Missouri River Post Tax Day Report it is the post snow day report as well.

The snow will be melting today as the weather turns once again to the seasonal norm.

BWO Bite

BWO’s are here in a big way. John and I were talking about the shift from kick ass fall BWO hatches shifting towards the spring. We agreed that the past few years the spring BWO bite has far exceeded the fall action. Truth.

So, why not come on out and try your hand at the baetis dry fly game? We are into the middle of the month with our Spring Special. 2 weeks to go for our best in the canyon spring pricing @ $350 Guide Trips with our guide staff that is second to none. Try your luck this spring with Headhunters.

The guides and anglers have been damn excited with the events of late. Overcast and good. BWO hatch begins about noon and can run late in the afternoon. The sunny days the bugs leave the water rapidly. The moist cool days like yesterday? They are trapped on the water for a long time. They do love you long time!

Streamerville USA

A bit better this week. Some good reports from not only the canyon but beyond. Up near the dam the reports are coming in strong too. Marabou Clousers may be the answer. Ask your local fly retailer to show you this maybe forgotten pattern. We have them in black, tan, olive, and brown. 150 plus streamer patterns in stock. Stuff that in your proverbial bugger pipe and smoke it.

While anglers waited for the sideways snow to stop yesterday a few took the opportunity to fill their streamer reel with a fresh streamer line. Good thinking. Slick shooting long casting along with easy stripping makes it all worth it. New streamer lines are gifts that keep on giving. Treat yourself to a new line this spring.

Missouri River Spring Nymphing

The consistency is improving. Although I did go a couple hours the other day without a bite at one point. The morning was strong, the late afternoon was strong, but the bright middle of the day fishing was not good. For me at least. IF you bump into a slow period do not give up. A few options are to change depth. To change the flies. Or to change your attitude sitting on the bank with a warm or cold beverage of your choice. Some like a Coors Lite. Others a ice cold COKE. Yet others a piping hot cup of chicken broth. Whatever your pleasure remember to enjoy the day.

All of the pink and orange and red beaded flies are hot. All of the BWO patterns are on fire. The midge is always a strong choice. Soon there will be some subsurface caddis action as we near the Mother Day Caddis in mid May.

March Browns are still a month away as well. Some are getting excited about a few hatches in the future. We got some time to wait. While some of the spring indicators arrived early, the cooler weather and snow and Father Time, and that gal we all love Mother Nature have a funny way of evening things out. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Water Flows and Temps

4480cfs which is about 1K below our historical water flow average this time of year. The latest snow falls and moisture we received this week will pouch off the warm and low water devil a few weeks.  Our man in the mountains Brett Matula has mentioned that he is seeing some good snow up high. Not as much lower but not too bad in the mid range as of late. Brett is hiking around Montana when he is not fishing the Missouri River and had recently given us this update. The Snotel site is not looking bad and Canyon Ferry is filling well. 79.1% full with inflows about 6400cfs and 12.3′ to go til we fill it the 4th Week of June. So 2 more months to go. We will get there for sure.

Headhunters Fly Shop Open 7am-7pm Daily

Spring Shop hours expanded to offer you an earlier start to you dray. Now open 7-7 daily. And later if the traffic allows. We are not held to a specific schedule and our outstanding shop staff is here to help with fly suggestions, reach suggestions, gear advice, casting instruction, rental boats, Project Healing Waters free Adipose rental boats, shuttles, lodging advice and booking help, and more. Come in today and see why Headhunters is your Missouri River favorite.