Monday Morning Montana Missouri River Fishing Report 7.11.22

Good to great fishing out there. Nymphers of course rocking them. Dry Fly Anglers are here from far and wide. Not too many stripping, or swinging. If any art all. When the dry fly action is hot, we recommend capitalizing on the opportunity.

Trico’s

Strong. Coming on stronger. Great daily hatches in full swing. Males hatch at night. Females join them in the morning. Spinner fall mid-morning is key. Double Wings, clusters, single posts, Griffith’s, Buzzballs, H & L Variant, tiny Humpy’s or Wulff’s, Quill’s Cluster, and more.

PMD’s

Good. Waning. Spinner fall is the way to go. A Chartreuse or Rusty Spinner is king. Trapped Duns, Transitional Duns, Cripples, emergers still in the mix. Gotta have some good patterns at your disposal to get in on this famous hatch. A soft hackle being or two soft hackles is a creative method for catching the, on the PMD. Split Back PMD as a dropper off your ant or caddis?

Caddis

Daily too. Skittering, mo-tating, moving. Loving the small in the film patterns as of late. Make sure it does not float too high. Our trout love them in the film. Or just under! Translucent Emergers and Pupa’s, Stocking Wing, Hi Vis Stocking Wing, Outrigger Caddis, X Caddis, Spent Wings, Hot Spot Tape Wing, Tape Wing Orange, and more. Headhunters is the place for flies. Try us out next visit to Craig.

Ants and Hoppers

You bet. Hoppers making their way into the conversation. Ants have been good for a month or better. Again the film flies are good. Not too high, but a but low. Blind them in faster riffles and long 2-4′ flats.

River Facts

Flows at 5300-cfs-ish. Pretty stable. May come down this week? Temps bouncing up and down between 58F and 62F.

Lots of heat this week. Wednesday forecast at 100F. Fish the early mornings man. Siesta at noon. Go back out for the last hour if you wish. Good caddis action in the pm. Our best hour is the hour before the last hour of light. My personal belief.

All ramps busy. Be good out there. Be polite. Weekends are busy. Lots of traffic. A big push at the ramps about 11am til 6pm.

Headhunters Fly Shop & Guide Service

Book your august Guide Trips and Lodging today. Also look towards the fall and get your reservations in the books now. Great dates, rooms, and guides are filling fast.

Shop open daily at 6am. Shuttles, guide trips, boat rentals, lodging galore with nearly 40 rental properties. The Best Flies Under the Big Sky, Oros Bobbers, Hats, sunshirts, Headhunters Logo Gear in stock and in your size, shade, free coffee, friendly shop staff, and free maps and info.

• Izaak’s Restaurant OPEN Wednesday thru Sunday 4pm. Un-real Fresh Sheet/Specials daily. Had Chilaquiles that changed my life a couple days ago from Chef John. Man, really super good creative dishes that separate Izaak’s from the rest. Chef continues to wow the locals here in Craig and beyond with his catalog of wonderful-ness. BBQ too. Handcrafted cocktails by Scotty at the helm, lots of Montana Micro’s on Tap with large selection of bottled and canned beers, seltzers, etc.
• Shotgun Annies open nightly in Wolf Creek. Bar Fare. Burgers.
• Missouri River Inn open daily at Noon @ Prewitt Creek. Bar Fare. Burgers.
• Montana Reds Food Truck Open every night in Craig but Wednesday. Burgers. Breakfast Burritos and Sando’s daily in the am ‘cept Wednesday.
• The TapHouse Open daily 2pm-10pm. Local Brewery Ten Mile Creek serves up locally crafted brews.

See you in downtown Craig. Stop in the MotherShip and say hello.