Fly Fishing the Missouri River

We hit Craig, Mt. on Sunday at about noon. We headed straight to the river for a walk and wade session. There were noses poking up every time a little cloud cover came in and the wind died down. The weather in Montana this time of year can range from dead calm to gusts of 50mph and rain in a matter of hours. I fished the Sage Circa 489-4 with a Rio Connectcore Trout Lt, my favorite combination for dries, to rising fish and landed some nice rainbows on BWO spinners.

The remainder of the days we fished out of the drift boats paddled by the killer guides at Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig. We fished with Jared, Beth, and Mark who were all top-notch guides. We banged the banks with streamers and posted up on a few pods of consistently rising fish.

The cottonwoods were absolutely spectacular and the photos just don’t do them justice.

Jeff Hickman’s Skiddish Smolt in all three colors were great producers, and the only streamers I tied on. I fished a 6wt and a 7wt (we had winds up to 50mph) Sage One paired with a Rio Outbound Short with a 10ft intermediate tip. Caught probably 30 fish with this set up.

For dries we had a hard time beating the buzzball. The fish were picky and your presentation had to be spot on. My outfit of choice was a 4wt Accell paired with a Connectcore Trout Lt. This was a brilliant outfit for the windy afternoon conditions. Hooked about 10-12 fish on dries

Simon Gawesworth did very well with soft hackle on 4 and 5wts loaded with a streamer tip. It produced great numbers of fish.