Tuesday Trout Bum

Local Shop Rat Peter again today with his latest post of what he finds to do when not fishing! It does not happen often as the shop staff is on the water any moment they are not chained to the store!

The day has come, Hell has frozen over, and you find yourself in Craig MT. And for whatever reason you don’t want to trout fish today?!? That being due to the wind is gusting to 30mph, or risk of lightning kissing your  graphite flyrod keeps you off the water. Maybe its due to your elitist DFO attitude , accompanied by a lack of hatching bugs. Or maybe, In the rare case, you have just caught too many 20 inch browns on dry fly’s and can’t bare to catch one more single fish. Well you don’t need to hit the bottle yet. Nope. Believe it or not, there are things to do in Craig MT other than trout fishing.

1. You can tie flies. We both know you don’t have enough and are bordering on indentured servitude with the local fly shop. Patterns that should be coming off your vice for the impending hatches should include but not limited to, CDC PMD Spinner (or
   Rusty), Cornfed Caddis, or RS2.
2. Hang out at the boat ramp on a busy Saturday. It can go toe to toe with a traveling circus, from people who can’t back up a boat to save their life to the master angler blowing up their raft in the middle of a 3 lane ramp. Sit back with a lawn chair and
   a case of Coors…it will get good.
3. Drive the frontage road and take notes, who’s fishing where How close to the bank? Bobbers or Dries? Where’s the pressure focused, on the upper or lower river? While you’re at it you may as run some shuttles.
4. Practice casting. Let’s be real…it may not be your fly they won’t eat. Missouri River fish are notoriously picky. Making your first shot count can be the key to a proper eat. Put a solo cup at 20 feet. Every time you sink it take a step back. A fly placed with grace, centimeters (not inches) from a weed mat will be rewarded by an eat.  I’d bet a fly on it.
5. Go Carp fishing. Not for the novice fisherman. The carp of the Missouri river can give a flats junky his fix. Conditions range from flood tide reeds to sandy flats. You can almost convince yourself those cat tails are mangroves. It may not even be worth it on a Tuesday or Wednesday though. Those are my days off. They wont eat your flies on Tuesdays or Wednesdays…wink wink nod nod!

Overall there are things to do when one finds themselves committing the cardinal sin of leaving rising fish. While there is always birdwatching or a bar stool at Joe’s with your name on it, don’t leave those idle hands to the devil. Go out and try something new.

-Your local shop rat Peter