Above: Ben McNinch schooling some trout with a single dry fly and the new Headhunter Fly Line. And it’s that time of year. Typically quiet on the river as school is starting and people plan for Labor Day weekend activities. Fly Fishing the Missouri is usually not on most people’s agenda for the last holiday weekend of the summer. It is often one of the quietest summer weeks on the Mo’.
If you decide to come, the fishing should be excellent if you are flexible. Trico’s In the morning and attractors in the afternoon. Nymphing is good to excellent, but you need to adapt your technique to the water you are fishing. Anglers are having success through the entire water column.
Our Brown Trout population will start moving and staging for the autumn spawn soon. It’s a good time to search for them with a big streamer as they move towards the tributaries and Holter Dam.
I think most of the state is fishing well right now. We know the Blackfoot is, as are the upper Blackfoot tributaries in the Lincoln area. This is wade-only water, and a great place to find a little solitude. Anyone who hikes more than a mile from an access point will be throwing to some clean water and fish.
We’ve heard good reports from the Beaverhead and Big Hole, the upper Madison system (Browns will begin moving around here as well soon), the Kootenai, and the Elk up in B.C. To the south, the Yellowstone is fishing well, and this is a great time to head to Eastern Idaho and the South Fork of the Snake.
Land the weather forecast for the next couple of weeks looks great. Temperatures are predicted to be comfortable… not too hot.
So pack up the camping gear and get out there for one good last fish8ng trip before fall sets in. If you’re headed our way, give us a call or stop by and get an up-to-the-second report from our staff.