Danielle rocks the Pink Morrish Hopper

Fished river wide yesterday. Streamers, nymphs, dries…you choose.

Caddis on top was the word from most, with some Psuedo/BWO stuff too. Adams, E-hair, and the normal down wing fare.

Nymphing, the normal, again. PT permutations, midge mania, and scuds topped the trout buffet.

Streamer chuckers were successful with Beldar Buggers, Hickman’s Skiddish Smolt, R2R’s, Sculpzilla in black or natural, Zonkers, or anything white.

The Missouri is back on track with all stretches fishing quite well.

Hint: All the fish do not live on the banks. 90% of our streamer fish came off of center river structure, or any weedy 18′+ medium speed water. Some in the soggy too.

Fishing is heating up as the weather is cooling down, so toss your waders in the back seat again and make your destination the Missouri River. It will reward you with greatness.

Today’s weather indicates that you put on a bugger and strip to your heart’s delight.

Flies may include: Black bugger, olive bugger, brown bugger, R2R, Skiddish Smolt, Clouser’s, Yellow Yummy, and do I dare say a Zonker?

Pretty much your choice. But make sure to have on our favorite Streamer line for the Missouri…it’s made for us! The RIO Outbound Short F/I. It tosses a streamer with absolute ease. Come in and try or buy, your choice. At Headhunters, if you don’t like the fly line, we will refund, re-try…whatever you desire. We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee here at the shop.

Do you like big takes? We do!

Madeline never misses the fish...

The Labor Day Weekend is historically slow in the way of anglers. Lots of families around this cooler than normal weekend as September moves through the first week.  Will this next week fallow the same path…weather wise, it will.

It will be cool all week long and feel more like October than September. September can bring us temps in the 90’s…just as well as this pattern.

The Psuedo’s will be out in force as the entire river is back in session. Nearly every reach is fishing well enough to make a day out of it. Still some caddis throughout the month skittering around. Look for flights of them and the associated riseforms.

Dry Fly guys should have the normal downwing stuff in a cinnamon, or ginger, lt tan versions of Bloom’s caddis, Henryville’s, HF Caddis, Stalcups, and Red Stag skikktering patterns.

If you want to fool with the silly Psuedo’s…try microscopic para Adams, CDC Smokejumpers( it does actually work) in both BWO and Psuedo versions. A tiny sz 22-24 emerger is not a bad idea. Short leash short line nymphing is a terrifiic way to catch those difficult nearly rising fish.

Streamer guys have been doing much better as of late with catch rates commensurate with your casting and stripping ability. Presentation styles may vary and vary them until you come up with a winner.. Black, olive, brown, shiny, dull…and the common theme is the fellas are throwing smaller than larger patterns.

A note about this fall: Guide calenders are again filling so plan accordingly if you would like a specific guide in the upcoming 2 months. Lodging is also at a premium…we’d love to see you this fall. Come on out and visit, but only if you like catching big slob’s on dries and streamers.

Welcome to the Mo Jack!

Jack came all the way from Vermont with his father to fish the Mighty Mo…and he liked it. Dad has been fishing here for years and decided it was time for Jack to experience greatness as well.

As for the fishing…good news. There are fish below the Dam. Many anglers spread out today and all reporting success. Still great fishing up-river, but explore the lower reaches for great fishing too. As soon as the 1st of September arrives, it seems to release our death grip on the dam, and allows us to breathe again…therefore fishing downstream. The report coming form way down low have not changed, with difficult remaining the  theme.

Flies that worked today were anything dam small at the dam.

Scuds and mayflies below WCreek, with some Psuedo action late in the day.

Craig down the hopper fishing along with an ant behind seemed to prove quite deadly.

The canyon both nymphed and hopper-ed well according to SOL and Capt Carp. A few nice fellas caught on the hopper, with the smaller black ant taking the smaller fish throughout the day.

Can you say " Neversink Trude?"

Evidence of attractor fishing in 18″-36″ of moving water, not on the bank. Very good Jack, he says he will return. I believe him.

A collective sigh of relief as August is behind us and great fishing is on the horizon.

We got a taste of excellence today….thanks fish gods!

The Year of the Brown 2010

…and therefore 1 month closer to fabulous dry fly fishing.

Until then, nymphing is the game.

According to the gaggle of guides that just traipsed through the hallowed doors of Headhunters…the WHITEFISH bite was on today.

A significant drop in the old barometer will sometimes make the river fish as though there is not a single trout in the resource. You would think there had been a chemical spill upstream, that specifically targeted the wily trout. And when the trout do bite the fly, they run so hard and fast that the tippet strength has no correlation in landing rates.

The most common phrase of a Missouri River guide, “Let ‘em run, let ‘em run, let ‘em run. No, he did not spit it. I’ll tie on new flies now.”

These fish are strong! Steroid strong, as a client of mine recently said. There were some expletives thrown in for good measure.

Flies of the Day included: Little Green Machine, Red Headed Step Child, Rainbow Warrior, Rainbow Czech, blah, blah, any small PT like a green lightening bug, Craven’s Ju-Ju Baetis, Morrish’s Anato-May olive, Kyle’s C-N Superflash PT, Bubbleback Baetis…all in 16-20.

Hoppers were looked at but not often eaten. A few, said the guides, not a lot.

Try something other than a traditional hopper. Try PMX’s, beetles, ants, anything goofy looking in your attractor box. Even a Stimulator can be effective.

September is here and so is our most productive nymphing month. Hardcore nymphing client come out and are tuned into the bobber.

Bodycount bobber fishermen unite.

Lots of anglers fishing at the dam. Guides, Rec anglers, and wade fishermen alike

Lots of fish stacked up at the dam. It is a “Circus w/o a Tent”, as Capt. Scott Yetter would say. Lots of boats circling the wagons engaged in row-arounds to get the big ones. Average fish is something to behold. Etiquette amongst these anglers is imperative. The rule is, do what the majority of these guys is doing. Follow suit.

As for the fishing report: Still tough. Synonym: Not hot.

The inclement weather has slowed the hopper bite, as rain will do that, but has not damaged the subsurface show.  Fellows, and females at the dam have been getting them on…Cheesemen emergers, WD-40’s, Love bugs, Zebra’s, Pearl LB’s, Midge Modgers in red& black, small rainbow Czech’s, Black, Beauty’s…and the like.

There have been guides fishing the entire river, and with limited success. It is how you perceive success. Is 1 giant brown on an attractor your view of success? If so, the river is on fire. Nymphing below Wolf Creek is good if you can dodge the weeds. They will inhabit the water column for another month. But will dwindle with the tides. High line speed casts, and the ability to “snap” the fly from the water with a haul are both effective ways to dislodge the ubiquitous weeds.

Those fishing well down river have not had great catch rates. Fewer folks will pressure the fish anywhere below Craig, so if you are after solace, go down my friends.

As for Caddis and Trico hatches…yes, there are opportunities for dry fly fishing. They are few and far between. Headhunters will need to look closely in ‘fishy dry fly water’ for dimples. They are catch-able, with the difficult task being locating these little devils.

Pseudo’s will come off in droves daily depending on the conditions. Overcast, rainy…like today, will bring these fellas for their surface exodus. Try shortening up the entire rig, like at the 1 foot level. @ beadheads can get the job done. Trust it, and fish it near bank lines and shallow center river bars.

As for Pseudo dries. Ya, we got ‘em. As for Pseudo dry fly fishing? It’s for the birds.

Temps for the week: 61, 63, 61, 68, 77…still summer?

Pink Morrish strikes again...

Ditto.

Same report as the last few.

Dam Flies: Small midges, Zebra’s, Black Stallion’s, Black Mercury Midge, Black Beauty’s, small midges. See a theme?

Below the Dam stretch: Pink Morrish Hopper’s, sz 6, or there abouts.

Headhunters Open daily @ 7am. Open late til 8pm. Stop in, chat with our crack staff and for the up to date skinny.

Nice one Len...

Leonard from Spokane with a beatiful brown from this last week. Len fishes here often. He used to fish the St. Joe, the Clark’s Fork, and other river more often. Then he made his first trip to the Mighty Missouri.

He makes fewer trips to those other rivers now.

Piggy's near the dam

Lots of corpulent rainbows caught near the dam in late August and early September. The water is cooler and the oxygen  content is high. So, therfore…

Fish the tiny stuff up there. Midges are the key to success. It changes daily, and sometimes hourly…the feeding behaviors of the sometimes finicky dam fish. The rule is…change depth, change profile, change fly. That’s the order most of us adhere to. Most of the time, or some of the time. Remember: It’s fishing, there is no hard and fast rule.

Still healthy late in August...

As for the flies, and the fishing report…

Nothing has changed, I’m afraid. Lots of guides, rec boaters, and anglers hovering around the top 1 mile of our wonderful resource. Some folks asked me if we always and only fished up top. No, just when necessary. The water is cooler, the ….

Today the hot tip was a Miracle Midge, a Rainbow Warrior, a Black Zebra, a Pearl LB…Fly du Jour. Tomorrow it will change. The damndest thing is that I do not get the memo for the feeding times, styles, and fly selections til it’s too late. A breakdown in communication.

Scumliner, John, is in BC for a few weeks shasing the wild steelhead…so, SOL, Mark, me will be scratching this report out. Take it with a grain of salt. I know you will, you are the most intelligent fly anglers of all time.

Hopper fishing at it's best...

The hopper bite may be waning. Fewer eats per mile is to be expected. If you only get five eats in 8 miles, and one of the fish is 23 inches…is that enough to make the day?

I think so…

Love the colors of this brown...guide Mark Raisler

Pretty tough if you are a staunch dyed in the wool Headhunter. Decent Trico hatches, but very, very few fish are ineterested. So, if you remember the good old days and want to find rising fish bank to bank, you better look pretty hard. But, if you enjoy nymphing and hopper fishing, you are in luck!

Most of the guides and most of the non-guided boats can be found rowing around in circles near the dam most mornings. Then the most common afternoon program has been floating to Craig and enjoying cold beverages on Izaak’s porch.Some anglers fishing down stream, and if you need solace, it can be had below Craig. This is the softest tow weeks of the year for the Missouri and it’s anglers as most of you folks are getting kids back in school, headed out on a family vacation, or are hunkered down inside with the A/C blasting.

Dam Flies: Kuhnert’s Zebra Midge, Craven’s Ju-Ju, WD-40’s, Hogan’s Drowned Midge, Downey’s Mr. Ugly, BH Cheeseman Emerger, Kingrey’s Ice Nymph and the like.

Everywhere else flies: Lots of PT stuff dangling from the perpetual Rainbow Czech Nymph. Green LB’s, FB PT’s, Quasimodo PT, Little Green Machine, Craven’s Ju-Ju BWO (it’s purple!), Arnold’s Grape Slushy, Arnold’s Sili-Scud, some caddis pupa stuff, but it is certainly waning. We will see a resurgence of a cinnamon caddis in September, so don’t put that box away just yet.

This guy does not miss meals...guide Cap'n Carp

For those of you who want to go big, fluffy dry fly fishing we like Morrish Hoppers in all colors, Whitlock’s Rubber Legs, Bloom’s Hopper in Tan/Yellow, Berrets Hopper, Stalcup’s in all flavors, and the penultimate Noble Chernobyl.

Other terrestrials include a Bloom’s Cinnamon Ant, black ant, Neversink Trudes big and small, Silverman’s Sparkle Stimulator, or any sexy attractor in your box.

The weekend is over, the touristas have returned home…come see us for a mid week fishing extravaganza!

Veteran Robbie came to Montana from South Carolina to experience his first fly fishing trip. Here is one of 4 nice fish he caught on hoppers with guide John Arnold - pic/AshleyBoswell

Fishing has been variable.  Each method varies day to day.  Hopper fishing has picked up enough that you can call it consistent.  The ones you’ll catch are good.  Nymph fishing remains good, not great, and is best from Holter to Wolf Creek.  Mornings are good, but you can expect it to taper off around 2:00pm.  Time to go to the hopper anyway.  The toughest fishing will be for those hunting heads.  Rising fish are few and far between right now.  Afternoons may see little to no surface activity.  You’ll have to wait until late evening for it to pick up again.  Streamer fishing is an option, and is not a bad move particularly in the Canyon.

School starts for many next week, so things have quieted down considerably.  While the fishing is not red hot, the weather is fantastic and it’s a great time to be on the Missouri (and in Montana in general).  The days are getting shorter and the nights colder.  Pretty soon….