Monday May Day Montana’s Missouri River Fishing Report

Water temps climbing as well as the water flows from most every creek, river, stream in the state.

May is here, spring has arrived, we hope, and do not see temps drop below the freezing level for the next ten days!

Spoke with the dam knob controller last week. Water projections for the month and summer will arrive in my email box later this week. But, the early word is that the river will be in the 5K-10K range for the next 6 weeks. High and mid level snow still not he ground. The 40’sF temp at night will keep the snow melting through the next ten days at least. It is coming.

A reminder to those new to the Mo that the run off does not deter our fishing here. Can it limit the portion of river we fish because of a bit of mud tossed from the two local trips? Yes. Does that mid go away as the river flushes itself out? Certainly. Can you fish green water below them here? Yes, for generations.

Bobber Lobbers like 5′-7′ from Indi to split. Heavy pink Pill Poppers, Worms, Bubble Yums, Amex, Rainbow Czechs, , larger PT’s and Euro slender bodied nymphs get those flies down there. If you like the sink rate of said Euro Style nymphs, we got lots of them!

Second/bottom flies that have been popular are the Zebra of lots of darker colorations, BWO nymphs, un-weighted worms, sows galore, and pink.

Look for that medium slow or medium speed waters along with the back end tailouts in the deeper darker water.

Streamer anglers have been using the heavier deep tips to get to the action. Lots of cool Streamer Fly Lines at HH of Craig. Big selection. Certainly the largest fly line selection in the Trico county region! Honest. Well over 1000 fly lines in stock at your Fly Line Leader on the banks of the Mighty Mo!

Don’t forget about the Headhunter Fly Line for Dry Fly Fanatics! Selling tons of them still as the shine has not won off this highly acclaimed dry fly specific fly line created by the Headhunters Team for your dry fly successes! Come in today and try this dry fly gem out!

A bit tougher out there with the additional water. Many finding them in a spot, then not for the next couple. Keep in the mind that 2K cfs is 50% more water for them to hide in. Think like a trout, like a predator, like a hunter gatherer and capitalize. Don’t think like a silly human. Humans wrangle in their prey at the grocery store. Pretty far removed from predator behaviors.

Dry flies can cover the waters after lunch. Early morning too. Meaning day break. But the best sessions are later in the day. Longer. Midge is the primary bug not he water. The primary eater too. BWO’s not he back burner. Lower down the river the anglers are beginning to see success with the larger olive bugs. Water temps that are rising are helping the bugs along.

Swingers? Find your center river bar and find the correct depth. Skagit Style? Yes. The beauty of the Skagit System is that you can find your depth and achieve it every swing. Want to learn more about this highly entertaining technique? Come by the shop and we can start you down this life learning path.

Flies galore at Headhunters. We built our reputation on a complete and procured fly selection for this great Montana resource. Missouri River Fly Central here on the Mo.

Spring Shop Hours currently 7-7 daily. When the fishing dictates we change again open later we certainly will adapt. Shuttles daily including the Dearborn.

See you in downtown Craig. Happy May Day!