Watch before you Cast A short by Orvis

Watch before you Cast A short by Orvis

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Watch before you Cast A short by Orvis

This is a great short from our friends over at Orvis. We love to watch fish rise, fish feed either on the surface or subsurface. Learning about fish feeding behavior is fun. And really important for those who like to use the net more often.

The Missouri River requires watching as well. We watch a lot.

Well, those who catch a ton. Those who wanna be the Hare? Not as many as the Tortoise.

Hail Mary QB’s? Not many of them get to the HOF. We see lots of Hail Mary anglers. They don’t carry a net with them…if you know what I mean.

Understand the rise form, the feeding behavior, what makes that specific fish tick.

Watch and learn.

I have become, in the last 3 or 4 years, a believer in casting at the center of the feeding lane. Let’s say the fish moves to and fro 18″ Or even farther. Sometime you find a fish moving back ad forth across a couple feet. Occasionally in the fastest section of moving water, sometimes over in the pond/slack water/back eddy region. The fish moves back and forth searching for food. I am a believer in casting, presenting the fly perfectly, where the fly can be presented perfectly.



The center of the bell curve, the line in the center is where you want your drift to be. At least when fishing towards many of our rising fish on the MO. A moving back and forth fish. Which we do see often during spinner falls. Later, after the majority of the insects have passed us headed downstream, the fish gotta ind food and they will move across current lines searching and feeding.

So, why would you ever toss the fly to the flat side of the bell curve. The center axis, the line vertically thru the center of the bell curve above, is the hot zone man.  Drift your fly thru the hot zone. Perfectly.

Not badly thru the flat side of the curve. The pond, the back eddy where he rose twice.

He has risen in the center of the bell curve 17 times. On the fast side 4 times, the slow or stopped side twice. The center 17 times.

So, do what any smart angler would do and make good drifts near fish. Good drifts around fish. Good drifts in the center of the bell curve.

And by watching you can do this sort of thing. Have success.

The angler and the watcher in the video above speak about this right when she hooks the fish. Sometimes you gotta err on the “better drift side!”

Because we all know that good drifts catch fish.

The goal of any of the dry fly stuff, or headhunting like these two are, fishing at a specific trout, is catching the trout.

Just like business, just like trout fishing. Go with the averages for the most success. Do what the numbers tell you. Do some research, some washing, some learning…to do more catching![/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=339&v=Qk-FyiIPA2Q&feature=emb_logo”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Orvis Helios 3 Video

Orvis Helios 3 Video

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Orvis Helios 3 Video

This is a really great rod. Whether you want the distance (D) version or the feel (F) version you will be overjoyed with either.

Popular with fishing guides, shop staff, and the you alike, this rod has performed miracles already on the Missouri River.

Come by today and demo this fantastic addition to your quiver. The Helios 3 edition is the best so far!  You will not be disappointed.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=qJ32sjo3Osw” video_title=”1″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Dewey's Trout Spey Rig

Dewey’s Trout Spey Rig

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Dewey’s Trout Spey Rig Ed note: Today on the Headhunters Blog we have Dewey’s Trout Spey Rig.  Dewey loves to swing the fly! He and Shane nymphed quite a few up on Thursday. But the real success was on the swing. Each had approx. 10 on the swing with lots of additional grabs, bites, … Read more

Winter truly starts now...

Winter truly starts now…

Winter truly starts now… Christmas hangover. It will last a few days and then many will snap out of it. The River Facts And get back to reality. Winter here in Craig is the reality. Water temps are frigid 3 1/2 degrees above the freezing mark. So 35.5F it is. This will remain the temps … Read more

Streamer Saturday?

Missouri River Streamer Saturday?

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]It’s coming. The time of year when the streamer junkies crawl from their dark fly tying dungeons and test their winters work on the Mo.

I would venture a guess that streamer time is here. Well, the front end of the streamer season at the very least.

Get your big stick out of the closet and get after it.

Streamer Saturday
Over 100 streamer patterns in stock!

Need a new Streamer Line for your gun? We got ’em. RIO, Airflo, Orvis…10+ streamer lines in stock for 5’s, 6’s, 7’s and a couple in the 8 too.

Streamer tips available too. VersiTips and Poly leaders from RIO and Airflo.

Streamer leaders round out the terminal end.

Flies. Streamer flies? Well over 100 patterns in the stuffed Headhunters Fly Shop bins. The largest streamer selection in the Tri-County area!

Yes it is streamer season and we love it. Bobber fishing gets us through the winter but streamer fishing is what many dream about.

Begin your 2015 streamer dream today.

 

 

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Headhunters Guide Peter Skidmore Video Short

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service Peter Skidmore in this video short today.

A bundle of winter anglers on the river this last weekend.

Sunday high temp peaked at 59.6F. Windy in the AM, then it layed down for the late afternoon bite.

Lots of fellers hook’d up.

Book your summer trip with Peter soon. He is quite a popular fish tracker.

 

 

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Missouri River Rain Day

Missouri River Rain Days

Liquid Sunshine falling from the sky this morning. Rained most of the day yesterday too.

So what should you do? Put on your rain-gear and go outside. Just what any normal sound minded angler would do.

The NOAA Weather Service states: Rain. High near 54. North northwest wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Missouri River Rain Days
Missouri River Water Temps Falling

Trico’s today? Probably not. Probably not tomorrow either.

Hoppers? No, not really an option.

Streamers? Totally your gig today. Or give nymphing a shot.

The water temperatures have cooled with this dousing of cooler wetter weather. No worrying about getting too warm this August now. Not that we were, but it is out of the question after this weather event passes through. Temps currently holding at the 62F mark. The flows are stable at 4320cfs and all is well. Shoot not too many more degrees below the 62 mark and we may see some BWO’s? Psuedo’s for sure.

Shoot, maybe a good Psuedo hatch today! Keep your eyes open, protected from the rain and have at ‘er.

5 Tips to Keep you Dry and Warm during the Deluge

  1. Wear the best rain gear money can buy. We like the SIMMS Stuff for sure. The Slick, Acklins, G4, the Bass Jacket…or have your buddy wrap you in Saran Wrap. Use Duct Tape for the seams.
  2. Fish under the bridge all day. The fish don’t care, they are all wet anyhows!
  3. Bring lots of hot coffee, soup, and/or Chicken Broth.
  4. Whiskey!
  5. Renegade fish from the car. Wade fishing is good when you have the protection of the car, the heater, and the option to go to Joe’s, stand by the fire, and tell some lies.

Toss streamers all day long.is the last one. May will be doing this all day. Good results in the rain. We love the rain and the cooling of the river. Feels good.

As for the dry flies and the Trico’s. We’ll see how they fare during this rain day. They are not done by any stretch so keep it tuned here for an update after the clouds part. Looks good for the front end of this coming week.

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That is all for this morning. Enjoy your weekend. Keep warm, and wear some killer rain gear. Shop is open daily @ 7am for all your Missouri River Montana Fly Fishing needs. Streamers, warm layers, raingear/waders from SIMMS and Orvis, rainpants, warm hats, and free hot coffee.

 

 

Orvis Helios 2 Montana

Orvis Helios 2 – Video

Here’s a pretty cool video showing the manufacture process for the Orvis Helios 2 back yonder in VT. Good job making a video about building fly rods that I watched to the end. The Helios 2 continues to one of our favorite rods. We posted a review/comparison of the Helios 2 and Sage ONE last year. We received comments and email from all over the world.

Unfortunately, that post got lost in our database crash last year.

If you don’t remember, we love both of these rods, but the Helios came out on top in the power department, and we gave it the advantage when it came to streamer fishing, and tossing big dry-dropper rigs. The ONE we preferred for our technical dry fly fishing on the Missouri.

Now, Sage has introduced the METHOD. We may have to do a METHOD/Helios 2 comparison. Pester Mark and I and we will get it done…

John’s favorite Helios 2 rig:

Orvis Helios 2 9′ 6 weight, Orvis Mirage reel, RIO Ourbount Short full intermediate (entire line is intermediate). My all time favorite streamer rig. It will be getting a workout on the blackfoot and Missouri soon!