flies Archives - Headhunters Fly Shop

flies, sale

SALE FLIES! Spring and nearly Summer on the Mo. Time to get some sale items, like cheap flies! SALE. FLIES! Head over to the Sale Page and gobble up these savings. A buck a fly! Yes, 1 dollar. $1/ea. That…

Dick Magill Chronicles: Streamer Fishing for Nice Ones

February 16, 2022

Dick Magill, flies, Streamer, Technique

Dick Magill Chronicles: Streamer Fishing for Nice One Streamer fishing is definitely the most versatile form of fly fishing when targeting predatory fish Not just trout but all predatory fish. When fishing a streamer you have the ability to imitate…

January Flies – Winter Nymphs and Streamers

January 27, 2022

Bugs, Fly Fishing Technique

flies, January, January flies, Missouri River Winter Flies, Nymphs, Streamers, winter

The daily air temps have been tolerable as of late. Some anglers out there fishing with the sunshine we have had for a couple days. The wind is coming, but the air temps have been enough to make us smile!…

Think Pink

January 12, 2022

Headhunters Life

flies, Pink, Pink Panther, Think Pink

Think Pink today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog. PINK is in. The nymphing anglers we spoke to yesterday were all over it. So were the trout. Pink is the color. We are headlong into January with the balance of…

Thursday Fishing Report Montana's Missouri River

Missouri River Fishing Report 8.20.21

September 20, 2021

Adams, Ant, Autumn, Fall, flies

Missouri River Fishing Report 8.20.21 Headed into the final stretch of September. We like it. Good water, seasonally appropriate water and air temperatures while we witness the seasonal change here in Craig Montana. Water temps 59.5F. Flows 3000cfs. Upper river…

Dick’s Top Ten Winter Swing Flies

November 30, 2020

Dick Magill, flies, missouri river, patterns, spey, Swing, Top 10, Trout, Trout Spey, TROUT2H

The Chronicles of Dick Magill Dick’s Top Ten Swing Flies November is one of my favorite months to swing flies on the Mo. Massive Rainbow and Brown Trout alike will absolutely destroy a swung fly. At times, the take can…

Missouri River Hot Summer Flies

July 29, 2020

August, Caddis, Craiglandia, DFO, flies, Hot, PMD, Summer, trico

Missouri River Hot Summer Flies A quick survey of the guides and shop gang this am about what is working for them. And here it is this Humpday in late July. We have fallen off of the July cliff. Quiet…

Late Winter Fishing Report by Richard

March 5, 2020

dry fly, Dry Fly Fishing Report, flies, Late Winter Fishing Report by Richard, Richard Magill, Swing

Late Winter Fishing Report by Richard The weather has been unseasonably warm, which typically means the wind is turned up to 11. Controlling a drift boat in gusty conditions can be difficult to say the least, but the rewards can…

Late October Weekend Missouri River Fishing Report

October 25, 2019

BWO, dry fly, Fall, fishing report, flies, Guides, lodging, Streamer, Trout Spey

Late October Weekend Missouri River Fishing Report Fishing is heating up. It has not been a record fall as we write this fishing report mid day Friday October 25th. Fair fishing. Not fo the fickle. Those who fish here more…

Since my brain is fried, I may as well organize flies.

February 21, 2018

Bugs, Headhunters Life

Annual Hell, February, flies, Organization

Since my brain is fried, I may as well organize flies. Here I go. Winter is not over. It feels like it is just beginning. And flies do not sort themselves. As a fishing guide I have lots of flies.…

Six Essential Flies For The Missouri River

September 1, 2017

Fly Fishing Technique, Fly Tying, Headhunters Life

essential flies, flies, fly sale, fly tying, missouri river

A couple days ago, I was digging through one of my fly tying drawers and I found an old shuttle sheet. The shuttle sheet was dated December 29, 2015. On the back of it were scribbled several lists of six…

Trout Flies By Gary Lafontaine

August 15, 2017

books, Buzzball, flies, fly tying, Gary LaFontaine

I have always loved the writing of Gary Lafontaine. The first post I ever wrote for this blog was about his theory of color attraction. I have read a lot of books about fly fishing and fly tying, but Trout…

Crawfish Flies For the Missouri River

June 12, 2017

Crawfish, Crayfish, flies, Nymphing, Spring Fishing

At some point every spring, trout in the Missouri River start eating a lot of crawfish. It is difficult to know exactly when this will happen, but below are some facts that should aid in your angling success. The Spring Spawn…

Juvie Jigger Streamer Strikes!

May 27, 2017

Fly Fishing Technique, Fly Tying

flies, fly tying, missouri river, Spring Fishing, Streamers

Juvie Jigger Streamer At the end of April, Headhunters hosted a Spring Streamer Fly Tying Contest on our Facebook page. We received a ton of awesome entries. Choosing a winner was tough. Each shop staffer and several guides selected their…

Missouri River Bugs – May 2017

May 16, 2017

Bugs

Bugs, flies, fly fishing technique, Nymphs

This week, we collected bugs on the lower river between Pelican Point and Cascade. Today we are going to talk about what Missouri River bugs we found and how to best imitate them during periods of higher flow. The Usual…

Friday Foto Missouri River Net Job & Weekend Tips!

May 12, 2017

Ben, fishing report, flies, Hardy, high water, May, net

Friday Foto Missouri River Net Job Guide Ben Hardy netting this one up with guests Mary and Kevin straight outta Michigan. Their first trip to the Mo with friends Betsy and Charlie. Both families are in the golf business. They…

Stalcup’s Cluster Midge

April 20, 2017

Dry Flies, dry fly, flies, fly fishing technique, Midge, Midge Cluster, stalcup

Stalcup’s Cluster Midge Needs To Be In Your Box Stalcup’s Cluster Midge is one of my favorite midge patterns. I always have some in my box during the spring and then again in July when the tricos start to hatch. This…

Missouri River Bugs – April

April 3, 2017

Birds Bugs and Wildlife, Bugs, Fly Fishing Technique, Fly Tying, Nature

April, Bugs, flies, fly fishing technique, Nymphs

Last week we collected our first sample of bugs from the Missouri River below the Untouchable’s Bridge. The bugs that we collected were about what you would expect for April. Sows and scuds composed the majority of the biomass, but midges and…

Freddy Fly Step By Step

February 16, 2017

Fly Fishing Technique, Fly Tying

flies, fly fishing technique, fly tying

Freddy Fly Step By Step Before the Chubby Chernobyl, John Foust’s Freddy Fly (or Fat Freddy) was a staple pattern throughout the West. Foust invented the fly for the waters around Missoula, but it has caught fish all over the world.…

Thursday Fishing Report. A warming trend

January 19, 2017

fishing report, flies, Pink, winter

Thursday Fishing Report. A warming trend The air temps have risen above the freezing mark. Nice. The water temps? Not really. Well, they are above the 32F locked up solid mark. But not much. Current water temps are below. A…

Missouri River Bugs – June

June 7, 2016

Birds Bugs and Wildlife, Bugs, Fly Fishing Technique, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized

Bugs, flies, fly fishing technique, June, Nymphs, phtography

Missouri River Bugs The following are some pictures of bugs from the Missouri River that were collected in June a couple miles upstream of Craig. These images will hopefully aid in your fly design and/or fly selection while you are fishing this…

May is a month for Streamers!

May 4, 2016

Fly Fishing Video

7wt., flies, May is a month for Streamers!, Streamer Flies, Streamers Inc

May is a month for Streamers! May is a month for Streamers! Most of the HH staff loves the month of May and one of the reasons is the streamer bite. Some really big brown trout come in May. Still…

Top 10 Tailwater Midge Flies

February 22, 2016

Bugs, Fly Fishing Gear, Headhunters Life

Dry Flies, February, flies, Midge, patterns, tailwater, winter

Top 10 Tailwater Midge Flies These Top 10 February Top 10 Tailwater Midge Flies are sure to please your Missouri River fancy. The midge hatch has begun in ernest and manny anglers are asking about the correct midge patterns to…

Missouri River Top 10 February Nymphs

February 18, 2016

Uncategorized

February, flies, Missouri River Winter, Nymphs, patterns, Top 10, winter

Spring like weather has brought out the shut in February anglers here on Montana’s Missouri River. While many are swing the 2 handed Trout Spey rod the rest are tossing the good ‘ol nymph fly. Here is a photo hit…

Fly Tying Night In America This Wednesday

January 11, 2016

Fly Fishing Technique, Headhunters Life

flies, fly tying

This Wednesday (1/13/16) at 6:00 PM Headhunters will be hosting the first Fly Tying Night in America session of the season. Hopefully we’ll be welcoming back some familiar faces from last winter as well as some new tiers. If you’ve…

Silly Sunday Shop Scenery

January 10, 2016

Bugs, Headhunters Life

flies, fly shop, Scenery, sunday

Ninch checking it out. The new ’16 flies come in beginning in March. Out with the old and in with the new. Ninch gets rid of all of the flies that either do not sell, or do not work. Yep,…

Tying the Pink Lightning Bug

December 28, 2015

Fly Fishing Gear, Fly Fishing Video

flies, fly tying, HEadhunters, Just Add Vise, Pink, products, winter

Tying the Pink Lightning Bug Today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog we tie the Pink Lightning Bug. In conjunction with our popular Just Add Vise brand this video is purely simple. No talking, no postulating about materials, and no…

Fluorescent Flies

November 21, 2015

flies, fly tying, Nymphing, winter

As Mark recently pointed out, water temps are falling and we’re moving into winter. Scuds and sows are king and pink flies or flies with firebeads will continue to gain popularity as winter progresses. Popular winter flies include the Pink Lightning Bug, Amex, Rainbow Czech,…

Fly Box Organization Hell

March 20, 2015

Boat BAg, flies, Fly Box, Nonsense

It’s over. I’m done. That hell has passed and now I can breathe easy. My wife can sleep better too knowing that the kitchen table can be once again be used as a spot for eating meals. Only took 10…

Online Trout Flies!

February 22, 2015

flies

We’ve been slowly working on a ‘real’ webstore over the winter, and it’s actually got a few products on it. A much nicer user experience than our previous clunker. Some of you know we’ve been working on this because you’ve been…

Missouri River Winter Flies

December 23, 2014

flies, Missouri River Winter Flies, winter

I don’t know the names of all of the flies in these images. I just don’t anymore. Ninch is the fly mastermind with some suggestions from John and I. But it really is his deal. So as the bins change…

Boat Fly Review Of The Year So Far

September 3, 2014

Fly Fishing Gear, Headhunters Life

Adipose Boatworks Flow, Boat Fly Review Of The Year So Far, flies, gear, Headhunters Fly Shop, rental boats, team Headhunters

Patterns from the island of discarded/forgotten flies. Since the spring, the employees here in the shop have been saving all the discarded/forgotten flies that have been left in our rental Adipose drift boats. The picture accompanying this post shows the flies…

New Flies for the Missouri River

July 9, 2014

flies

Once upon a time, Mark and I ordered all the flies for Headhunters. It’s a grueling task, especially when it comes to finding and having faith in new flies that we’ve never tried. These days, the Ninch does all the…

Big Dries.

July 3, 2014

big dries, flies, fly fishing technique

The other day I was picking a few big “foamies” out of the bin for a day on the water. A customer leaned over my shoulder and asked “what the hell I was going to use those for?”. “The Missouri”,…

Missouri River PMD Patterns

June 30, 2014

flies, fly tying, Missouri River Montana PMD Box, PMD

Ninch and I were going through the fly bins the other day and pointing out a few of our favorite PMD patterns for the Missouri River. Right now. Cripples and spinners, mostly. There are others. Here are some macro shots…

Missouri River Flies for early June

June 4, 2014

Fishing Report, Headhunters Life

fishing report, flies, Headhunters Fly Shop flies, patterns

The bottom is dropping out right now as I write this Tuesday evening. Look at the chart. You will approve. Already speculation that there will not be enough water to fill the reservoir. It is just that until we see…

Missouri River Montana Fishing Report 5.9.14

May 9, 2014

fishing report, flies, Guide Trips, Headhunters Guides, missouri river

Good weekend ahead of us here on the Missouri River. Good weather too. If you like potential snow and rain. You should like this weekend just fine. The tributaries are clear and clean and the entire river is fishing just…

Missouri River Streamer Short List

March 10, 2014

flies, Streamers, team Headhunters

The streamer short list today from the fly gurus at Headhunters Fly Shop. Missouri River Streamer Short List Swingers have been getting them on Brown Skiddish Smolt, Kreelex, and Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow. Strippers have been getting them on Brown Skiddish…

Missouri River Fly Selection plus 400!

February 24, 2014

Fly Fishing Gear, Headhunters Life

fishing report, flies, Headhunters Fly Shop flies, missouri river, new flies

Spring on the Missouri River means greener grass, Midges, Baetis, streamer fishing, and movement at Headhunters Fly Shop. Did you just add 400 more fly bins? You changing the store again? Don’t you guys ever rest? Are you bringing in…

Missouri River Winter Flies | Headhunters Fly Shop

November 25, 2013

flies, patterns, winter

Monday morning here in Craig Montana. We are settling in. Totally settling in. The pace has slowed from the slow pace last week. Now, it is truly weather dependent for the anglers daily arrival. Purely locals and some regional folks…

Purple Trout Flies

August 24, 2013

flies, purple flies

Yes, purple continues to be the color of choice. Purple Morrish Hopper, Purple Peanuts, Grape Slushy, Purple Weight Fly, Purple Lightning Bug, Purple Holo Prince, Purple Zebra, Purple Haze… you get the idea. It would seem kind of ridiculous to…

October Caddis Pupa

August 20, 2013