November 1st Missouri River Montana Fishing Report
Fishing along in November. Happy last season of the year.
The Spey Season. TroutSpey is here and we love it. Still some single handed love to be had and we are having it.
Saw some fish up on the dry today. But not many. Enough to cast for about an hour. We are hopping more on the way, but not really holding our breath. Maybe the fall BWO’s are a thing of the past. The spring showing much better in the past several years. It used to be the other way around. Mother Nature turns the tables with ease and is a nasty bitch some days.
Nymphing great. Worms and sows. Just like bacon and eggs. Good daily.
Crowds? No, no crowds. Did see another boat for a minute yesterday morning, then it was gone with the wind. Literally. Only blew a strong 20mph today. Literally. Most would call it 40. But 20 seems like 40 some days. Like yesterday.
The week ahead? Warmer and sunny’er. Looking for some good dry fly action. Hosting the RIO/Sage group for thru next Monday. Looking for some great streamer fishing too. Lot sod fun all eek long with buyers, owners, and managers form fly shops around America.
So will have lots of updates this week about both the dry and the streamer. We will send it your way daily. Here on this very blog page.
Headhunters now with winter hours. Daily 730am til 6pm. Booking for the 2017 season. If you want to get a specific guide or lodging spot get on the horn today. Kelli and Julie taking bookings daily. Why wait. Get it on the board man.
Come in for your TroutSpey outfit. Rods from Orvis, Echo, and Sage. Lots of demo rods, new rods, killer rods, and…and more.
Enjoy the first day of the rest of the season. We are happy to have lived through another full summer season. Late fall is here.
Awesome. The right pace for sure.
6 Comments.
Wilford Brimley?
Maybe?
Nice post on the 31st. Got a couple of comments.
1. Historical info (stop rolling your eyes) on the Missouri River fall BWO hatch. Kept a journal with my dad on every fishing outing either of us went on from the 1963 season thru 2005 when he died- didn’t seem fun after that. The fall blue wing hatch on the river my favorite of any kind, anywhere. Your comment that it may be disappearing started me paging thru boxes of notebooks filled with info no one but me cares about. Maybe. I found that hatches on the Mo in 1998 were funky like this year and the fall BWO s in 98 were basically no shows thru Oct. 31st- like now. On Nov. 2nd (for some reason I didn’t note the weather conditions) I was running a 2 nymph rig – no comment- at the I-15 bridge just above Stickney when the blue wings popped big time. Strong hatches on the 3rd and 4th then the notes say I went to a job in Butte so there’s a lapse in info. Heading home on Dec. 15th I jumped off I-15 at Wolfcreek to drive the river on the rec road. The bad little voice in my head was telling me to stop and catch an hour on the water while the nice little voice countered that I hadn’t seen the wife and boys since before Thanksgiving go home. If you ask my 3 sons and wife about the voice deal, they’ll all laugh and tell you “the bad fisherman voice always wins- it’s who he is”. But I’m wondering… At a few minutes after 2 pm I stopped beside the road across the channel from the upstream point of the big island at Rhoda’s, dressed out, rigged up and waded into the water to check out the riffle that feeds the long slick that runs like glass along the hiway riprap (you know the place, Mark). I was midchannel, crossing, when I thought I saw a ring at the head of the slick. Then another. Had to dig my shades out- didn’t think I’d need em because it was so overcast- and when I put em on I could see them… size 16 blue winged olive duns popping up in the riffle and drifting onto the slick where they quickly disappeared in a bubble and a ring. A few, then more then a lot. Dec. 15, 1998, 2:30 pm, 50ish, fishbeaks at intervals and all over the front of the slick and blue wings. Ever just stand and watch late season BWOs? They drift forever. And they all seem to wave their chubby butts straight in the air like mini Kim Kardashians at a photo shoot. Long story, Mark, but the point is that the blue wings hatched strong until the 18th when it turned freeze your ass off cold. Keep lookin
Fascinating stuff. One thing I’ve noticed this fall is the lack of hard frosts at night. Although we’ve had some significant cold fronts come through (snow in the boat on 10/18); it just hasn’t been below freezing on the numerous clear nights we’ve been having. Seems like the water is cooling down much more gradually; and maybe that’s why the bugs aren’t showing yet?
Or maybe the scuds/sow bugs ate them all???????
Check that 10/10.
Awesome RUSS J. Just awesome! Thanks for the historical insight. Truly enjoyed it. We will keep looking.