Missouri River Montana: Fly Fishing and Floating

Looking very spring-like out there right now. Today we’re seeing near-ideal conditions: light, intermittent drizzle with no wind and steady cloud cover. It’s the kind of day all anglers yearn for. I am stuck here in the shop, but if you’re out there and want to trade places, please let me know. If you’re reading.. read more →

Wait, it’s late April already? It alternately feels like early March or mid May, depending on the weather. Looks like a chilly, fishy weekend will greet us out here on the water. Winds will come out of the north, so make sure you’re bundled up and ready for it to be on the colder side.. read more →

Spring in the Rocky Mountains is kicking out some serious weather whiplash. Sunny and unseasonably mild today segues right back into snow and northern wind tomorrow and into the start of the week. Looks as though we will get back into warmer weather late next week, but it should be a chilly start to the.. read more →

Well ladies and gentleman, the spring thing here is gearing up toward full swing. What is the spring thing, you ask? Peak spring on the MO here is that oh-so-sweet trifecta of a great nymph bite, active streamer fish, and happy trout sipping BWOs off of the surface. Alas, we’re not quite there yet. With water temps.. read more →

It is going to be a frigid one this weekend in Craig. Please travel responsibly; we’re due for a possible foot of snow with heavy winds if possible get an Aardy travel insurance. On the bright side, it looks like we will get back into the 40s around Tuesday, and the extended forecast looks like.. read more →

Cold and snowy out here today. Looks like that’s going to be our main deal for the week ahead, with air temps in the 30s and 40s. We are somehow still waiting for the big Baetis hatch. In the meantime, the fish are definitely eating those BWOs subsurface, and the streamer bite is pretty good.. read more →

Zugunruhe describes seasonal patterns of restless in migratory animals, especially birds. I can’t help but feel something of it myself as we all wait for fall weather to get things going. The fishing on the MO right now has hit a period of stasis. The dial is turned to “decent fishing with nymphs,” but we.. read more →

We proudly present: the current fishing report. Amidst a strange, strange year out here on the MO, we’d like to remind you of the virtue of patience. With sunny, warm weather ahead of us for the next week or so, it seems unlikely we will have a strong Blue Winged Olive hatch in the short.. read more →

Recipe For a Great Fall Day on the MO Prep work: Sleep in a touch, make a strong cup of coffee and load up on cooler weather gear. You’ll need rods for all facets of the game, so dust off your streamer rod, set up a dry fly stick, and have the ol’ bobber rig.. read more →

In his 1953 poem, “End of Summer,” Stanley Kunitz portrays a scene that feels a lot like fishing a canyon stretch on the Missouri in October. In the final stanza, he writes: Already the iron door of the north Clangs open: birds, leaves, snows Order their populations forth, And a cruel wind blows. Currently, instead.. read more →