Missouri River Fly Fishing Report - Headhunters Fly Shop

Where do all the little ones live?

We constantly get questions about our big fish. Not just how and why we have so many fish over 18″ but also where all the little ones are. And where do they live? And, why don’t we catch any little…

Monday.

July 22, 2024

Dragonfly. Mid-season and all is well. Be happy, it’s summer. We are. No Hoot Owl. But we are finishing before 2pm daily. Have a good Monday. Enjoy.

Wade fishing the Missouri River

July 21, 2024

missouri river, wade fishing

A great year to wade fish the Missouri River. Low flows have allowed the wade angler to access a ton of fishy water. Dry fly guys are happy that they can wander and find noses, sometimes a lot of noses.…

Redington Taco Tour Video w/ Mark Raisler of Headhunters Fly Shop

July 20, 2024

Fly Fishing Video, Headhunters Life

PMD, Redington, SOL, Summer, Taco

Redington Taco Tour Video w/ Mark Raisler of Headhunters Fly Shop Had a ball tossing PMD dries, drinking Special Beers, and making Birria Tacos with Guide Mario Guel of Redington last summer. This video is just 1 of several episodes…

July Trico's Missouri River Fishing Report

Thursday Fishing Report Mighty Mo 7.18.24

July 18, 2024

Thursday Fishing Report Mighty Mo 7.18.24 Nymphers headed into the Zirdle Bug era. 6 weeks of big fly up top, little fly on bottom. Weeds in the water column are developing. The warmth of the summer is here. We may…

Dead Flies Don’t Swim Video + 5 Things to Never Do Dry Fly Fishing

July 17, 2024

Fishing Report, Fly Fishing Technique, Fly Fishing Video

Dead Flies Don't Swim Video & 5 Things to Never Do Dry Fly Fishing, DFO, dry fly, July, Technique, tips

Dead Flies Don’t Swim Video + 5 Things to Never Do Dry Fly Fishing Today is the day to repost this quite popular video and remind everyone that the primary topwater diet for all Mo River trout are dead flies.…

Oh boy it’s hot Reach Cast Video

July 15, 2024

How to, reach cast, SOL

Reach Cast Video Getting hotter here on the Mo. Trico’s in full swing. PMD spinner falls daily. Caddis best in years. Plugging along mid-July. It’s hot. The fishing can be difficult on the dry. ut not terribly difficult lately. Even…

PMD’s Up Close

July 14, 2024

John Arnold

macro, mayfly, PMD

Here’s a couple of detailed shots of our favorite Missouri River Mayfly for those who have never looked close, or those who can’t because the eyesight ain’t so good no more. To learn more than you need to know about…

Friday Fishing Report from Headhunters Fly Shop

July 12, 2024

Caddis, July, PMD, Summer, trico, Yellow Sally

Friday Fishing Report from Headhunters Fly Shop Flows 4220cfs. Water temps at 62F. Trico’s Daily. Males hatch brightly, females in the morning. Emergence 7am. Spinner fall 930-ish. Clusters, singles, spinners, emergers. Buzzball and Quill’s Cluster are good choices. Spent caddis…

Trico Swarm

July 11, 2024

Bugs

Trico Swarm

Trico Swarms daily. Nearly. Cool weather will put the hatch off a couple hours. Be calm. They generally come. Then set up and wait for the fall. Lots of folks on the upper river. Find solace below the Dearborn.

2.0! New Edition! Headhunter Fly Line for Serious Dry Fly Only Anglers

July 10, 2024

Fly Fishing Gear

Advanced, DFO, Fly Line, Headhunter, Line, Proprietary

Headhunter Fly Line for Serious Dry Fly Only Anglers Editor Edit: 2.0 Version of the Headhunters Fly Line now in Staock at HH of Craig. Add to the already terrific dry fly specific taper is RIO SlickCast coating. Way more…

Monday July 8th Missouri River Fishing Report

July 8, 2024

Csaddis, July, PMD, trico

Monday July 8th Missouri River Fishing Report Flows are 4160 cfs. Water temps are 62F. Trico’s? Yes. PMD’s? Yes. Caddis? Yes. Yellow Sally’s? Yes. Nymphing is great? Yes. Deep and shallow. PMD nymphs, caddis nymphs, Yellow Sally nymphs, Trico nymphs.…

Missouri River Trico’s

July 7, 2024

Missouri River Trico's

Great Trico hatches on the Mo daily. The Trico’s came on time this year. Caddis on the. PMD’s on time. Are you, are you on time? Top to bottom you can find your favorite white winged black friends coming off…

Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2024

4th of July

Happy 4th of July Slow day on the river. Family days. good times. PMD’s and Caddis dominate the dry fly day. Frenchies, SplitCase’s, and sows generate interest subsurface. Soon Trico’s will be added to the diet. Ants, hoppers, more and…

You haven't booked your summer trip yet?

Tuesday on the Mo. Yes, it’s good.

July 2, 2024

July

Yes, the fishing is good. Nymphing solid. Dry fly action strong. Streamer fishing? Don’t really know. There are fish rising. Swingers? See you in the fall. July. We love July.

Dead Flies Don’t Swim Video

July 1, 2024

Dead Flies Don't Swim, DFO, Fly Fishing Video, Scumliner Media, Trico's

Dead Flies Don’t Swim fly fishing video from Scumliner Media. Trico’s. We love Trico’s. This filmed many years ago during an epic Trico season. It is forthcoming for the year ahead. Enjoy the video today. We are on the water,…

Missouri River July Fly Fishing Forecast

June 30, 2024

Caddis, Forecast, July, PMD, Terrestrial, trico, Water Flows, Weather, Weeds

Missouri River Mid-July Fly Fishing Forecast Welcome to July! We have made it through the busiest month of the year, June, and have emerged on the other side with the hope of continued summer hatches and sunshine. I’m sure we…

Missouri River June Saturday

June 28, 2024

June, PMD's, Weekend

The calm before the storm. Almost. Lots of folks on the river this fabulous weekend with the weather presenting a reason to slather on a cupful of Sunscreen! Bustling as we move into the dry fly season. June is the…

PMD Thursday

June 27, 2024

PMD Thursday

PMD Thursday Rain today. PMD’s like rain. Get your Skwala Rain Gear at Headhunters of Craig. It’s the good stuff man. Dry fly powders, GINK, Super Power Fly Floating, and light tippet material coupled with accurate reach casts will bring…

Mid Week Fishing Report Headhunters Fly Shop Craig Montana

June 26, 2024

Flows dropping today to 4100cfs. Water Temps 58F. PMD’s and Caddis currently hatching on the upper and lower reaches. Yellow Sally’s on the lower half. Best post up dry fly action on the upper half. Good blind fishing dry flies…

Flows Dropping this week

June 25, 2024

Uncategorized

Flows today to 4500 cfs. Flows Wednesday 8am 4100 cfs. Summertime on the Mo.

Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019

Silly Sunday Scenery

June 24, 2024

Fishing Report, Photography

Scenery, Summer, sunday

Silly Sunday Scenery All good in Craig. Flows dropping. Fish rising. Happy Sunday.

Skwala Soul-Stice this Weekend Sale

June 22, 2024

Fly Fishing Gear

Summer fishing should be soulful—long days, dry flies, tasty beverages, late-night campfires on gravel bars. We’ve you covered when it comes to sun protection, so you can focus on getting your mind (and your cast) right. Hook yourself up with…

Always Worth the Trip Video Scumliner Media

June 21, 2024

Always Worth the Trip, Blackfoot River, Freestone, Headhunters Summer, Saturday, Scumliner Media, Summer, video, Wet Side of the Mountains

Always Worth the Trip Video Scumliner Media The Blackfoot is a wonderful freestone river just over the Continental Divide from Craig Montana. A one hour jaunt to the Blackfoot and a days worth of fun. Big floaty flies that we…

Missouri River Flows for Late June

June 20, 2024

Flows, June

Questions about flows following the rainstorms of the week. It spit again today with significant rains the past couple days. What will happen with the flows in the near future? Inflows at Toston are currently 6750cfs. Outflows at Holter are…

el SOL Video

June 19, 2024

el SOL Video

el SOL Video A fun short from Scumliner Media today on the Headhunters Blog. This entire video is shot while fishing a cinnamon ant. Ants work. Buy ants at Headhunters of Craig.

Tuesday Brown Trout

June 18, 2024

Image by Dave W. Just awesome. What a creature. Fishing is good. June is good. We are in the peak season right now. Time is now, Now is the time. PMD’s daily. Never saw more PMD’s on the water than…

Missouri River Montana Weekend Foreshadowing

June 14, 2024

Flow increasing today to 6500cfs. Weather cooperating this tail end of the week with wind free days yesterday and today. Water flows increasing, temperature decreasing, rain developing on Monday and Tuesday. PMD’s waxing. Caddis waxing. BWO’s waning. Midge holding steady.…

Happy Mondays here at Headhunters Fly Shop

5 Tips for Missouri River Mid June

June 13, 2024

Fishing Report, Fly Fishing Technique

5 Tips for Missouri River Mid June

5 Tips for Missouri River Mid June Yes there is dry fly fishing. Not all day long yet, but that is coming. It’s mostly on-ish?! Missouri River water flows are fluctuating between 4.5K and 6.5KK. Will we see lower flows?…

Monday June 10th Missouri River Fishing Report

June 10, 2024

Monday June 10th Missouri River Fishing Report All good here on the Mo. The Mo is at the peak of traffic as we head into the middle June weeks. Weekends of course very busy. Friday is the new Saturday. Saturday…

Missouri River Montana PMD Box

June 9, 2024

Fly Fishing Gear, Fly Fishing Technique, Headhunters Life

Fishing Tips, fly fishing technique, Missouri River Montana PMD Box, Pale Morning Duns, Squeeky's PMD Tips

Pale Morning Duns are part of your day here fly fishing Montana’s Missouri River in June. We love June as the bugs participate more willingly everyday. While the weather this last week has been really shitty, the fishing has stood…

Trout Bum

June 8, 2024

Future Fly Fishers

trout bum

Many rivers, resources, and regions boast that most anglers are over the age of 65. Not true on the Missouri River. Cats like these two frequent Headhunters on their way to the river. Via the web, the blog, the Twitter,…

Thursday on the Mo!

June 6, 2024

Headhunters Life, Photography

Silly Sunday Scenery

We like Mayflies. The Missouri River has Mayflies. Lots of them. Happy Thursday. Today, the fishing goes on. All things flow down river. All of them.

Tying LaFontaine’s Buzzball

June 5, 2024

Fly Fishing Video, Headhunters Life

fly tying video, Tying LaFontaine's Buzzball

A must for any hard core Missouri River angler. Tied originally for this fine river emulating dead midge shucks. In conversations with Gary LaFontaine on the Trout Shop Cafe porch way back in the day Gary stated that even though…

High Bank: Mighty Mo Images

June 4, 2024

Headhunters Life, Landscape

Dudes, High BAnk, PMD's

High Bank Trout confusion continues this week. Bugs in a change period. Fish in a change period. Means, you should be in a change period. Change, to what? Ohh, you are an angler. Most, start guessing. That is the important…

Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report 6.3.24

June 3, 2024

Caddis, fishing report, June, PMD

Monday Morning Missouri River Fishing Report 6.3.24 Flows 6K. Water Temps 54F Spoke with Tyler Stremcha at BOR this am. Says we have not seen all the high elevation snow come off yet. Still freezing in high elevations at night.…

Silly Saturday Scenery: Pelicans

June 1, 2024

Birds

friday foto, Pelicans

Pelicans A smelly bird. The Pelican. These are white. Happy Friday. See you in Craig this summer. Photo ops daily of this large scale whitefish grubber. Check out the Missouri River Pelicans. They summer here.

Water Levels perfect for June ahead

May 31, 2024

Looking pretty good out there. Both the Missouri River below Holter Dam and out local tributary Dearborn River both in great shape for late May and June ahead. Missouri River below Holter Dam currently falling at 5680 cfs. Looks like…

Of Caddis and Summer

May 30, 2024

Caddis, Deep Freeze, MLK, Of Caddis and Summer, Summer

Of Caddis and Summer 60F outside today. Did some yard work, turned the compost pile, fooled around in the garage with fly gear. And saw my favorite fly box. Bought it for a dollar at Bob Ward’s Bozeman 25 plus…

“Oar Boy”

May 29, 2024

anchor rope, fishable spring Missouri River, missouri river

A good looking Adipose on the river. This one from our friend John downriver of Craig. We love the Seafoam Green color as it reminds us of the salt and sunny Tarpon dreams. Will you get a new boat this…

Bald Eagle on Brown Trout

May 28, 2024

Birds, Nature

Bald Eagle, birds, sunday, Wildlife Images

Bald Eagle on Brown Trout Saw this Bald Eagle on Brown Trout an afternoon in the lower canyon. He was getting after this Brown Trout. A 20″ fish for sure. Entertainment, information, education, and customer service are paramount to the…

Last week, this week, next week.

May 27, 2024

Took the week off from writing. Last week. This week back. A good mental break. Fished the Dearborn twice, and the Mo twice. Variable. Unstable. Hit and miss. Those are all words used to describe the past week of fishing.…

At least the hurricane force winds kept the flags flying all day.

Memorial Day

May 26, 2024

Un-Fishing

Memorial Day

Memorial Day We honor those who died while serving. One day is clearly not enough. We should honor them everyday. But today we can show how we feel by raising the flag. Take a moment and reflect on those who…

Missouri River Trout Confusion

May 19, 2024

fishing report, Monday

John and I talked about this recently. The May trout confusion factor. Yes, sometimes we think we got this thing all figured out. News Flash: We, the collective angler(s), we don’t. Living and fishing here for decades will teach you…

Blondie. Rapture.

May 18, 2024

Headhunters Life, Un-Fishing

1981, Blondie, Rapture

Weekend Tips from Headhunters of Craig

May 17, 2024

Dearborn River, fishing report

Weekend Tips from Headhunters of Craig Windy here in Craig Montana this morning. Is it windy here all the time? No. But almost. Average wind speed in our neighborhood is 12.4 mph. Chew on that for a minute. And practice…

Friday Foto May 17th 2024

May 16, 2024

Uncategorized

Friday Foto May 17th 2024 A classic Woodie Drifter, a train bridge, anglers, the Missouri River. Happy Friday.

Missouri River Montana Fishing Report 5.16.24

May 15, 2024

fishing report, fly fishing technique, Guide Trips, missouri river, Spring Fishing

The water downriver is clearing already. The LPP Creek has about half the volume of mud as it was yesterday. Today, half as much again. Good vis all the way to Craig. The water is green but not dirty. I’d…

Words of Dry Fly Wisdom

May 14, 2024

Fly Fishing Technique, Headhunters Life

BWO, DFO, Guide Suggestions, Midge, Trust Me. I'm a Guide, Wisdom

Words of Dry Fly Wisdom Thinking about the dry fly bite this am before heading to the water today. Some things never change. Fish are wild animals. They are not trained. They do not understand that you did not practice…

Meditate. Monday. Updates.

May 13, 2024

fishing report, March Brown, May, Midge, Mother Day Caddis, Spring Run-Off

Meditate. Monday. Updates. Water levels on the river primary stable. A bit of upward movement from the deluge this past mid week. Tributaries have been slowly growing and the river proper is somewhat off color in sections. Little Prickly Pear…

Happy Mothers Day

May 12, 2024

Brown Trout, Sunday Brown Trout

Happy Mothers Day Happy Sunday. Happy Mothers Day. Super sunny ands warm this weekend. Perfect for Mom’s. Happy Sunday. We rejoice in the names of your mothers today. Hope you are spending it with yours. Squeeky holding a fish that…

Rain makes small impact on the Missouri River

May 10, 2024

Rain the past couple days. Over 2″ fell on the region. Prickly Pear and Dearborn rivers peaked yesterday. Now will follow a long slow fall the next week. Some dirt in the water below both. Impacting the fishing? Nope. A…

Friday PSA: NRS Throw Bag Video

May 9, 2024

Uncategorized

Today this very important video by NRS. Watch it. Twice. Then practice tossing your throw bag. And re-stuffing properly. And keep it within hands reach in your fishing craft. Throw Bags can Save Lives. Thank to NRS. Throw bags…

Saturday Missouri River Fishing Report from Your Information Leader in Craig

Will the Missouri River see a rise in water levels?

May 8, 2024

Dearborn River, HH Predictions, Little Prickly Pear, LPP, May, Rain, runoff, Water LEvels

Will the Missouri River see a rise in water levels? Currently raining hard. 1.65″ in the last 24 hours. More to come. How much? Who knows. Forecast for a another few hours of rain. Will the Missouri River see more…

May Missouri River Fishing Forecast 2024

May 7, 2024