November Missouri River Fly Fishing Forecast
We are looking forward to the month ahead. November is great fishing. One of the best parts of the month include the lack of anglers around. Another highlight is the fish that like to rise. Yet another is the opportunity to have the river to yourselves. Another, the quiet-ness. And if you like to boat fish, you may be the only one on your reach.
November Hatches
Blue Winged Olives may last through the Thanksgiving holiday. We sure hope so. What is nice about this month ahead is the lack of angler participation. You can find a flat that has your name on it. If the month is warm you will find quite a few anglers out there. Your favorite dry fly flats will be fished if the air temps are similar to this previous year.
Been a much too warm and non-common fall so far. Warm and windy. Hopefully that weather pattern has ended. Hopefully.
Daytime highs for the week ahead are in the mid 40’s and 50’s. Lows at night register in the high 30’s. Perfect angling weather for November.
Hope for the BWO’s to hatch in numbers as to get those finicky trout looking toward the surface. Also hope for continued fall weather conditions to extend the good fishing period. If it gets really cold really fast, then all bets are off. That is not all that good for fall fishing.
That tiny two winged short and fat and grayish black bug is out there too. Some tiny midge looking things too. We like to toss the cripple of the BWO. We also like the emerger. Some like the big Adams, meaning me. Some like the giant cripple that looks like the Callibaetis. Some like a baby Chubby with a tiny PT off the end.
Whatever you may want or need or if you have any questions about the current hatch cycle and when they are coming off or if they are even coming off you oughtta stop in the shop or give us a call as we are open longer than the rest, here daily, and full of all kinds of information, enough to make both of us blue in the face. Yup. 8-5 daily.
Missouri River Flows and Water Temps
The water flows are quite stable in November. Mid 3K range is the norm. Check out the graph and you will see that not too many fluctuations occur. We are still historically low and will continue to be that way for the winters and the spring period. Only heavy snows and heavy rains and an accumulation of great proportions will alter the path we are currently on.
The water temps are dropping rapidly, about 1 degree every couple of days. We are nearing the high 40’s and will stay in the 40’s all month long. We like them to be there for a long period. We do not want them to fall too quickly.
Missouri River Guide Trips
Trout Spey comes to the forefront this month and the months ahead. You will find on any given day more anglers tossing the two handed than a single handed rod. Why? Because the water levels and the fish are ready for the swinging action that the Trout Spey rod provides.
We have several Trout Spey Specialists on our fabulous staff. Give us a shout to book a Trout Spey Guide Trip. All good. More as well if you have a larger group. All will be happy to show you what the Missouri River has to offer. A perfect swinging river with wide open runs full of trout ready to eat your swung fly. Headhunters is your education fly shop here in central Montana. Private casting lessons available daily as well by the aforementiond spey guru’s. We never stop learning here @ HH.
Nymphers Unite in November
Good to great. Some of the best afternoon sessions of the year. You like to have the rod bent over? November is one of those months. Some like to watch the bobber in the morning hours and switch to the dry fly in the afternoon. A perfect plan.
Or swing in the am, toss a fly at specific trout in the afternoon. What else could you want to do? Call us up for available guides and available days. Pretty loose here in November. A good time to be on the river! Julie and Sara are booking trips for the November and December. Swing Season.
Hey, why not get your Summer 2025 trips in the books today. Half of the prime dates for May, June, and July are gone. September filling.
November Missouri River Weather
Colder this month than last. But may not be all that cold. Average air temps in the month of November is 33.4F. Average lows in the low 20’s and the average highs in the mid 40’s. Not too bad. The fish like it too. Overcast skies are what we are hoping and praying for this month.
What is good about that is that the trout like to rise when the clouds are obscuring the sun. They do not have eyelids and cannot squint. Therefore the overcast skies are favorable.
Streamer fish like it too. They lay in the thinner less watered flats and are available for action.
About 8 inches of snowfall in the month of November. May see a couple inches of snow in the next couple of days. We do not see any additional snow on the long term forecast yet. But the Rocky Moutnains have a way of making winter difficult in a short period. Sooo…
Restaurants, Bars, and Lodging
Thank You Izaak’s! Quiet streets in this Craiglandia neighborhood. Izaak’s served the last rib plate for the season in October! Thanks Izaak’s for 2024! Stellar food, strong staff, un-real Fresh Sheet Items/Specials daily. Chef John continues to bring it here in downtown Craig. We truly appreciate the effort from John nd his staff. Thanks you, thank you, thank you.
Craig Taphouse and Stonefly Grill closed for the season in October as well. May have.special weekend dates in the winter ’24-’25. Keep it locked on the HH Blog for local info that you cannot find elsewhere. Your information source of all things Craig and the greater canyon region. Shoot, many do not post anything let alone the updates on businesses beyond their own. Yessir, the info source including fishing reports throughout the winter as well.
Kelli Wilson of Mo River Eats is shutting it down for the winter on November soon. Lunches available though? Check her out @morivereats on IG. THANKS to Kelli and Mo River Eats for a GREAT YEAR! Looking forward to your daily goodness as we dream about summer ’25. Thanks Kelli!!!!!
Lazy I Beerworks in WC open for the winter. Check their website for daily hours. Open daily as far as we know, according to the hours on the site. Call 406-203-0666 for current hours.
Two bars open for business in Cascade. The Driftwood and the Angus. Both feeding you til about 9pm. Call down first to make sure you can get a bite. Mostly serving food until 8 or 9pm.
Missouri River Inn in Prewitt Creek. Check for fall hours but we believe open daily. Call @ 406-770-0192
You can get a bite if you search a bit. A drink for sure. Call HH for any info we may have in regards to food. Rent a cabin with a kitchen. Done. See below.
Craig Trout Camp open every night of the year. Your favorite Craig Lodging sites Rainbow and Brown Cabins, BWO, PMD, Trico cabins, including the Craig House for larger parties or all of them in conjunction with each other for your entire family including friends is available. Lots of other options for th time being too. Some of our properties will be closing for the winter months. Call up our crack staff to get up to date on your nightly lodging options.
Thanks to The Jenkins Family for their support and the continued improvements on the Craig Trout Camp Properties. Just awesome lodging and support from the Jenkins. We appreciate them and appreciate the continued success and support.
Headhunters Fly Shop Hours
We will be open daily 8am til 5pm. Our normal winter hours. We are open everyday but Christmas. Many, even local, fly shops close in the winter. Not HH of Craig. If the weather is too frightening we do occasionally close for safety reasons. When the mercury drops below zero, not 32F, but 0F, we are closed. Do not hesitate to give us a call for the wind and temperature along with shelf ice when that occurs…we are your fall & winter information, education, and entertainment source here on Montana’s Missouri River.
And, the Trout Spey Epicenter of the Universe
