Streamer

Saturday January 23rd Missouri River Fishing Report

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Saturday January 23rd Missouri River Fishing Report Still kinda winter here in central Montana. Cool this morning as well as yesterday with air temps dipping into the single digits. Not much snow, if any accumulations int he last couple months. Mild air temps for the most part with afternoons a solid option. More spring … Read more

Tuesday Fly Casting Tactics w/ Simon Gawesworth

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Tuesday Fly Casting Tactics w/ Simon Gawesworth

A great tip from Simon Gawesworth fo RIO Line Company today. Tuesday here in Craig and all is well.

The fly shop staff is out on the casting lane often fine tuning personal casting issues. Should they be out there more often? Well I won’t criticize here on this blog. What I do know is that you cannot fine tune all of the casting changes you personally need to make while fishing.

Casting issues, changing your cast, improving your overall effectiveness with a fly rod in hand takes time. That time is now. That time is not with fly rod in hand casting at difficult bank feeders. In July. No, that is not the time to learn, that is the time to execute.

So a heads up, as I always remind you this time of year, is to practice now. Make those changes now.

Changes take time. It does not happen rapidly. It happens over lots of casting sessions.

The key to success on any of these learning objectives is to do lots of mini sessions. Do not try to do hour long marathons. Nope. Short 5-10 minute sessions will allow you to advance quicker. Long overdrawn exhaustive learning sessions are not smart. Regression will happen!

Get your practice rod out and get going. January is the time to begin the improvements.

I practice with the fly line I will be using to take it to the next level when I get to the “Show!” So I use the Headhunter Fly Line during practice on the lawn, with hoops for targets, to gain accuracy. First cast is the best cast, and the winter months is when and where you develop those skills.

Headhunters Guides including me, Squeaky Oar Lock, are available for casting lessons any time of the year. Call the shop today and get your casting lessons set up this spring!

Be better in 2021!

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Fall Fishing Report 2020

Wednesday November 4th Fishing Report

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Wednesday November 4th Fishing Report Another winter storm lurking out there for the latter part of the week as we continue to see non-seasonal warm temps coupled with the ubiquitous sun inspired winds. And that is how it has gone this fall. That has been our pattern. Unfortunately. 2020 is a strange one… Of … Read more

October November Planner

Late October November Missouri River Fishing Planner

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Late October November Missouri River Fishing Planner Good times here on the Mo. Calm today. Overcast. Moist. Cool. And yes, calm. That is the type of weather we yearn for here on the Mo in the fall session. So many good things come from the proper water temperature, right now a perfect 53F with flows … Read more

Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report 9.14.20

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report 9.14.20 Not too bad out there. On a scale of 1-10, it is a 6.5? Or a 7? Yes room for improvement as we move through the month. And improving daily is our theme here in downtown Craig Montana fishing the Missouri River. The rest of the month … Read more

Shane Wilson Netjob guide

Mid February Fly Fishing Report Montana’s Missouri River

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Mid February Fly Fishing Report Montana’s Missouri River Fished yesterday with HH Guide Shane Wilson and friend Adam Craig to Stickney. Had a great time. Fished a couple hours. Not hard. Social yes, fishing yes, lots of fishing energy, no. A short fishing session with air temp 22F, calm, partly overcast. Breeze came up from … Read more

Stripping in the Cold

Stripping in the Cold

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Stripping in the Cold Another piece from Richard “Dick” Magill from HH of Craig. Dick has been out fishing a ton and fished most of Christmas Day as well. He’s in the shop today and did our first installment of Instagram TV IGTV so check that out on our Instgram Page @headhuntersfly. Holiday hours … Read more

Friday Fly Tying Just Add Vise

Friday Fly Tying Just Add Vise Mozuri Minnow

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Friday Fly Tying Just Add Vise

The Mozuri Minnow from the vise of John Arnold. John patterned this streamer pattern from the Yozuri Minnow fished on light tackle when living in the Florida Keys. Originally tied with Walleye in mind it soon proved to catch plenty of those silly Mozuri River rainbows too!

Now a daily player and certainly an all-star in the winter months here and everywhere.

Friday Fly Tying Just Add Vise Tie this up and fish it on your streamer rod, your swing rod, and have a couple back-ups in your box!

Enjoy the video, order up Mozuri Minnow Just Add Vise Kit, and add a couple more too! Winter starts after the holidays…

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Late October Weekend Missouri River Fishing Report

Late October Weekend Missouri River Fishing Report

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] 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 often, are having more success than the anglers who are maybe here for the … Read more

Thursday October 10th Headhunters Fly Shop Fishing Report

Thursday October 10th Headhunters Fly Shop Fishing Report

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Thursday October 10th Headhunters Fly Shop Fishing Report Lots happening locally as we kick off our Trout Spey Camp 2019 this morning with a cast of thousands here in downtown Craig Montana. Spey casters from around the country and beyond have gathered here at Headhunters for this educational, informational, product showcase with reps and all … Read more

May Missouri River Fishing Forecast

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May Missouri River Fishing Forecast Today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog you get the May Missouri River Fishing Forecast. What to expect, wish for, and believe for the month ahead. Here we go out of April running full speed into the jaws of May! Hooray. Maybe spring will greet us this Month of May. … Read more

Mid Week Missouri River October Fishing Report

Mid Week Missouri River October Fishing Report

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Mid Week Missouri River October Fishing Report Facts today for the Mid Week Missouri River October Fishing Report. Fishing is good. Not too good during the am session. Stay up late, sleep in. Get out late. Then fish. The afternoon bite is much better than the before lunch deal. If you did not get out til … Read more

Foxee Minnow Just Add Vise Video

Foxee Minnow Just Add Vise Video

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Foxee Minnow Just Add Vise Video

Last week we showcased the Mozuri Minnow. This week we hit you with the ever popular Foxee Minnow.

Just caught a couple in my boat last week with this very fly. Clousers too. Marabou Closers too. And, the Kreelex.

Love me a Foxee Clouser. Tie it up for fall success or all Trout Spey season long. Black. Or your color scheme too. Get creative.

Enjoy your Thursday. The fishing is becoming stinky hot.

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Missouri River Summer Foreshadowing

Missouri River Summer Foreshadowing

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Summer Foreshadowing Just the 24th of January today. We have more than our toe dipped into the proverbial year, more like our ankle has entered the water. We are just beginning. And having that ankle submerged made me think of wade fishing, which then made me think of flip-flops, and finally Missouri River summer PMD’s. … Read more

Monday October 23rd Fishing Report

Monday October 23rd Fishing Report

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Monday October 23rd Fishing Report Just the facts today not eh Headhunters Fly Shop Missouri River Monday October 23rd Fishing Report. It’s fall.It’s October. It’s killer. Decent dry fly despite the high and bright sun. Find those singles on the shore lines. Not as much pod behavior with the ball of fire in late October burning … Read more

Mid October Missouri River Fishing Report 10.12.17

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Mid October Missouri River Fishing Report 10.12.17 Good times in the fall months as we look at the Mid October Missouri River Fishing Report 10.12.17. We love the last couple months of traditional fly fishing here in central Montana. IT does get better everyday from here on out. All the way until Thanksgiving. Ten it gets … Read more

Playoff Fishing here on the Missouri River

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Playoff Fishing here on the Missouri River It is go time here. Playoff fishing here on the Missouri River. Excitement daily as we are headlong into the fall fishing period. And it is good! I sighted many real life BWO flies not he water yesterday. The first showing in any numbers that I have seen. … Read more

Mozuri Minnow Just Add Vise Kit Video

Mozuri Minnow Just Add Vise Kit Video

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Mozuri Minnow Just Add Vise Kit Video

Getting ready for full on fall with the Mozuri Minnow Just Add Vise Kit Video today y on Headhunters Fly Shop daily blog.

John Arnold created this pattern a few years back for the Missouri River based on the Yo-Zuri plugs he saw in Florida. It works!

Mozuri MinnowSwing it, strip it, jerk it, fish it.

Enjoy your Wednesday with some fly tying at your office desk. Order up some of our famous Just Add Vise kits and get after it!

Sunny here on the river today with the bugs coming off this afternoon. The nymphing is nearly red hot and the dry fly bite damn good int eh afternoon. The streamer bite waxing.

If you want to visit please bring some cloud cover with you. And cooler fall temps. Please.

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Missouri River Fishing Report September 26

Missouri River Fishing Report September 26

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Missouri River Fishing Report September 26 All good here in this neighborhood as we move into the last week of September and have October on our minds. The fishing has us thinking that direction too. The Dry Fly Bite Getting better every day. The past few days the tiny BWO’s are out there in the … Read more

Headhunters Advanced Fly Fishing School

Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School

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Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School Want to get better at fishing the Missouri River? Want to improve your dry fly cast? Presentation? Fish finding skills? Well we do too! And this fall we once again offer Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School. We offer two sessions this October with the first being … Read more

Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report

Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report Marcie caught this bad brown on a tiny small olive mayfly. A sz 20! She is kicking off our Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report! Nymphing is on fire this week, and last, and the 8 weeks ahead of us still! Short leash, deep rig, or even in … Read more

Tuesday Missouri River Fishing Report

Tuesday Missouri River Fishing Report

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Tuesday Missouri River Fishing Report The river is active out there as we are headlong into this popular September month. Nymphers love to visit in September as the fish get off of the August slow down. Although this last August was as good as we could hope for with much better fishing than the previous … Read more

May Missouri River Fishing Forecast

May Missouri River Fishing Forecast

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May Missouri River Fishing Forecast Today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog you get the May Missouri River Fishing Forecast. What to expect, wish for, and believe for the month ahead. Missouri Rive May Weather and Water Forecast May is the second rainiest month of the year. The only one that exceeds May is June. … Read more

Missouri River Winter Fishing Report 11.8.15

Missouri River Winter Fishing Report 11.8.15

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Missouri River Winter Fishing Report 11.8.15

One windy bitch here on the Mo. Truly windy.

Ninch above with a nice rainbow trout on swung Hot-Eye Kreelex at the Spey Clinic Saturday.

Fishable on Monday afternoon with some shores windless enough to cast. Up by the dam the fellows that endured the wind said it was good fishing. They also said that about an hour of punishment was ll they could take.

Down river there were some pockets that you could fish. If you are a renegade drive by bank angler you just cruse around the river until you find the right water.

Missouri River Nymphing Report

The nymphing is pretty damn good. Find those buckets and work through them. Some of the holding lies can be small. Break it down into small stream components and get techy. You may have to adjust your depth, your bobber, but probably not your fly. Pink and slutty is the program for winter nymphers.

  • Firebeads
  • Ray Charles
  • Tailwater Sows
  • Arnold’s Sili Scud
  • Rainbow Czech’s
  • Amex
  • Pink Lightening Bug
  • Any bug Ninch tells you to use.

Missouri River Streamer Report

Not too bad here either. Slower water has been the key. Although a few fish have been taken out in the middle around good center river structure. Fish off of both sides of the top of island runs and the bottom end too.

Seems like fish have been holding in different water on consecutive days. The streamer eaters have not totally set up in their full time winter lies. So, fish both until you find a pattern.

The swingers have been out there too. Smaller patterns that are lightly weighted or un-weighted have been the better flies. Those heavily weighted big and ugly Madison/Yellowstone type flies don’t really get too much traction here in the winter.

Most of the streamer strippers using a dry fly line. Some are tossing them on an intermediate tip. Others fishing a RIO VersiLeader off of their dry line. Lots of ways to skin a cat. Use what you are comfortable with or try something new today. A fresh look is a good idea…honest.

  • Baby Sculpzilla
  • Small Buggers in any flavor
  • Thin Mint
  • Simi Leech
  • Kreelex
  • Marabou Clousers
  • Foxy Clousers

Missouri River Weather Report

Windy. Here is the forecast for today…

A 20 percent chance of rain after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 52. Windy, with a south southwest wind 41 to 46 mph, with gusts as high as 70 mph.

For the week ahead? Windy. Really windy. Rainy. And maybe snowy.

So if you want to come out and fish, it will most likely be uncrowded. You can probably walk into your favorite run.

Missouri River Flows and Water Temps

Missouri River Water Flows
Missouri River Water Flows

Pretty stable. That is all that needs to be said. Get used to it.

Still falling...
Still falling…

Still falling somewhat. But it should stabilize soon. A warm winter temperature range is 36F. A cold winter temperature is 33F. We like the former. The fish like it better too. You can now see why the fish will get in their winter holes. Deep, slow, nearly stopped water will be the hot ticket for the next three months.

At 37.5F we have officially entered into the full winter realm. Not many changes from here on out. Probably not until February will anything change. The next bug change being the advent of the Midges. So now we patiently wait.

Summer Employment

Not too soon to be thinking about Headhunters seasonal employment. We will need shop staff beginning in March, April, May. We like to start the interview process in January.  For you trout bums that want to be a part of the Headhunters Team begin putting together your resume. We will be accepting them beginning today. This is the professional outfit here in Craig. There is a reason that we have the longest standing shop staff on the Missouri. Think about it.

We live in a world of text messages, bad punctuation and spelling seen here daily, and non-professional behavior…we urge to to put your best foot forward. Those with the best looking complete resume including references will get looked at first. Just like in real life.  Get on board with the most recognizable fly shop in Craig. Headhunters.

Send your resume to both sara@headhuntersflyshop.com and mark@headhuntersflyshop.com  w/ RESUME in the subject field.

We are accepting resumes for shop staff, not for guides.

Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report 11.30.15

Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report 11.30.15

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Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report 11.30.15

Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report 11.30.15 is cold, but getting warmer.

The holiday weekend is over and we are back to work at the shop prepping for the upcoming weekend Trout Spey Clinic and shipping lots of cool gear on this Cyber Monday.

Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report
Fishing late November Missouri River Montana

Lead HH Guide Ben Hardy and Mark were out guiding on Saturday afternoon in the bright blue skies. The air temps at the Craig boat ramp read a high of 24F. But the sun made it feel like it was in the low 30’s!

Missouri River Nymphing Report

Nymphing was the game of choice with quite a few fish in Ben’s boat on a Firebead, a Tailwater Sow, and a Rainbow Warrior. Mark had success, albeit less, with a Bloom’s FB Rainbow Weight Fly, a Barbie Nymph, and Little Green Machine.

Missouri River Trout Spey Report

Swingers for the weekend reported successes in damn skinny water with floating lines. Some are fishing an intermediate tip or a Skagit line with a MOW tip of some sort. Strippers are out there too. They are getting them on a slower retrieval rhythm than they were a couple weeks ago. The trout are certainly in slower paced water as we continue the downward temperature spiral to the mid 30’s. Still some time until we reach that benchmark.

Missouri River Dry Fly Report

Dry fly guys? A few BWO’s on the surface on Saturday. Did see some fish moving near the surface and taking the first of the winter midge flies. Already exhibiting the winter like sporadic non sequential totally frustrating style of rise form. Total bullshit is what it is. As the winter progresses that will make more sense. After staring at the bobber for the next few months we will become coaxed into tossing the dry fly out there and letting it sit in pond like back eddies hoping for a lucky strike.

Missouri River Water Levels & Temps

Water levels holding at 3210cfs. Seems like a common flow for us this early winter. The fall, for the last couple months, has shown us that the lower than average water levels still are producing higher catch rates. The great nymph bite this autumn was enjoyed by many. While it didi not produce the historically good streamer bite in the fall like we are accustomed to. So, how do you balance all of that? Boy, if you figure out that equation give us a shout and we will pass it on to the masses.

Missouri River Montana Monday Fishing Report 11.30.15
Falling fast.

Damn close to the 40F mark. I have always though that we are truly into the winter realm when the wage temps fall below that 40F mark. So winter here we come. Are we ready for that kind of action? Well, bring it. A long way off from spring now. We will settle in for along winter ride.

The next couple weeks may be two of the softest angler pressure weeks of the entire year. The other two may be the first couple weeks of February. So if you like the pressure on the light to non-existent side of angling…you may like the next two week session.

Cyber Monday @ Headhunters Fly Shop

Order yourself up some kick ass Cyber Monday fly fishing gear today. Operators standing by if you want to call it in. Shop open daily 8am-6pm.