Late June Missouri River Fishing Report
The weather is nice. The temps are good. The water is normal. The crowds are a bit below average. The dry fly fish are a bit tougher than we would like. The nymphing is good. Pretty good here in Craig Montana.
Most of the info you need is in the first paragraph. The rest is below.
Tougher dry fly bite this last week. Over are the days when the fish will respond to bigger swinging caddis flies and larger than life PMD’s Now the game is on. No practicing your cast out here now. When you arrive you have better brought your “A” game. Those casting lessons that you took this last winter will pay off o this river this summer.
Approach the fish softly and quietly. When you find the right kind of rising trout let him rise and understand the situation. Those who toss the first cast out like they are on some sort of unfished freestone stream need not apply. Bad casters can still get on them but they must possess a great drift. Prepare yourself for a technical battle and plan accordingly.
Flies that are on our radar include those often spoke about transitional duns, smaller biot bodied PMD spinners, skittering caddis, skinny cripples, translucent pupa and emerges, and my favorite the Buzzball. Get yourself acquainted with the smaller fly size of 18. Soon we will be fishing the Trico’s and the patterns will again get smaller.
Water flows are 4420 cfs ad water temps are moving around between 55F and 60F.
Canyon is busy still with fewer boats up and down. PMD’s off daily in the am. Look for better spinner falls than we have seen this last week. Not too good. We would love to have some more caddis fly love here on the Mo.
Evenings are pretty good with the fish cooperating on the caddis fly. Not too busy out there at night either. Maybe a good time to get out there and enjoy the relative solace along with a couple of your closest fishing friends.
Moving into July very soon. Enjoy the latter part of June. July is crazy. A very busy month.
Check out Craiglodging.com for all your Missouri River lodging needs. Headhunters Fly Shop for your Missouri River guides. Headhunters has the flies you need to conquer those damn finicky fish out there on the Mo. Stop in and say hello. Free coffee in the mornings along with your favorite Craig Montana fishing crew.