Monday Afternoon Missouri River Montana Fishing Report 4.26.21

Short and sweet update from this afternoon.

Sunny. Bugs lift from the water quickly when the sun shines. Add a bit of breeze and total time mayflies are on the surface is less than 5 seconds.

A couple rising. A couple. Looked like mostly on midge.

Epic blanket hatches this past weekend in conjunction with the overcast and many times snowy skies. A few fish up. Have not seen the Craig flat on fire yet. That is an indicator pool. Some decent reports from the lower end of the river. If you like risk, head on down there. It can go one of two ways.

Gonna write about depth, tomorrow or the next day. Nymphing right now is a depth riddle. You gotta find them. That means you may have to change depths often. Look for the water you like and get after it. Add or remove split shot as needed. Take a couple nymph rods. More later. But the fact is, you gotta find the correct depth. And with the water temps in the 42-46F range the fish are roaming around looking for a new spring home. Transitory is the term I like to use when I cannot find them as a fishing guide!

Some tossing the streamer out there. Some success. More with the sun obscured by salt flavored rain clouds.

Swingers? Yes. Stop in the shop for the up to the minute Swing Report. While at the Trout Spey Mothership in downtown Craig make sure to peek into the swing fly bins. Lots and lots to choose from. We have soft hackles too! Great for teasing up a couple trout enjoying a baetis emergence.

Anglers up and down the river. Seeing all disciplines everyday. Saw a couple fellers swinging soft hackles on a single handed rod. A couple hook-ups from the couple of fellas.

Dry-Dropper? Lots of water where that can be effective right now.

Water Temps: 43F-44F.

Water Flows: If the flows are actually 4280cfs, I don’t want to see 3280cfs. Which may happen this summer. The gauge recently calibrated. Most of the long timers do not believe that the gauge is correct. Many believe that the water flow feels and looks more like 3200cfs right now. But, what do we know? We are just insane anglers.

Izaak’s Wednesday thru Sunday. Shotgun Annies nightly. Trout Shop Cafe nope. Taco Shack has been replaced by a medical cannibis shack. The O in WC? No idea. The Wolf Hoagie Shop? No idea yet. More info as we find out more.

Thanks for following/reading/informing yourself through our daily blog and fishing report. We will see you in Craig for the Best Flies Under the Big Sky @ Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service.

Have a great week!