What Hopper?
Were in the midst of a good hopper season in Montana. From the Yellowstone to the Madison to the Bitteroot, it seems like everyone is talking Hoppers. Same on the Mo’. The hoppers were late – like all the other…
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Sub-Surface School Sept. 26-30
We’ve only got 2 spots left for our new Sub-Surface Fly Fishing School coming up at the end of September. We talk “Dry Fly” all the time, but the reality is that nymphing is an important part of most modern…
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Tuesday Tips to Get You Outta Da Rut!
Tuesday Tips to Get You Outta Da Rut! Find yourself not catching more dry fly fish this year than last? Are you the guy that takes 711 casts to get the rising trout to even eat the fly, while your…
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Wednesday Workshop July Dry Fly Tips
Wednesday Workshop July Dry Fly Tips Do: Make the initial attack cleanly. Surgical. Stealthily. Fish are spooky and if they know the enemy is near, they certainly are not as excited to gobble up you’re offering. Don’t: Rush in there…
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Headhunters Sub-Surface School Sept 26-30 2019
Headhunters Sub-Surface School Sept 26-30 2019 Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service announcing the Headhunters Sub-Surface School Sept 26-30 2019. A great way to climb your way into the cellar with techniques, tools, and lessons regarding all things sub-surface. Nymphing secrets,…
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May Missouri River Fishing Forecast
May Missouri River Fishing Forecast Today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog you get the May Missouri River Fishing Forecast. What to expect, wish for, and believe for the month ahead. Here we go out of April running full speed…
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McCune Gould Spey Clinics – only a few spots left!
UPDATE – Both Clinics are now full. You can sign up as a backup. Mike and Whitney’s annual spring Spey clinics are coming up and nearly full. In fact the “rookie” clinic on April 20th is full, but there a…
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Practice Week continues with Tim Rajeff
Practice Week continues with Tim Rajeff Well, we agree with everything Tim Rajeff is talking about. You should too. A key phrase he mentioned in the opening is that practice happens when you are away from the fish. Practice does…
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SA Casting Loop Video
SA Casting Loop Video #1 error from casters that I see in the boat? They never stop the rod on either the fore or aft cast. Perpetual motion. Analogous to throwing a dart, you must stop the forward motion of…
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Gould McCune Spey Clinics Spring 2019
Gould McCune Spey Clinics Spring 2019 Headhunters Fly Shop is excited to announce the ever popular Whitney Gould and Mike McCune Spring Spey Clinics coming Spring 2019. April 20th 2019: Intro to Spey Casting April 21st 2019: Intermediate/Advanced Spey Casting…
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Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019
Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019 What you’ve been waiting for this winter! We announce the Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019! Yes, a few of your favorite guides we be teaching this Missouri River Dry…
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Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019
Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019 What you’ve been waiting for this winter! We announce the Headhunters Advanced Dry Fly School July 25-29 2019! Yes, a few of your favorite guides we be teaching this Missouri River Dry…
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Things Squeeky learned about teaching fly fishing this year
Things Squeeky learned about teaching fly fishing this year I was fishing with an individual who was an upper level angler. An upper level angler in my boat is a feller, or gal, that fishes a bunch. For me that…
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Swing Tips: Fish Broadside
Tomorrow is CYBER MONDAY. FREE SHIPPING on ALL ORDERS today, tomorrows and the remainder of the holiday season. Shop with online ease while you get all the things that Santa may forget! We’re often asked about how we present the…
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Headhunters Spey Especial Trout Spey Trips
Headhunters Spey Especial Trout Spey Trips Headhunters is hosting Full Day Trout Spey Trips for $400. October 15th thru December 31st. Lunch, snacks, and a spey rod if you need one are all included. This especial pricing trip is Spey…
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Missouri River Nymphing Techniques | Short Leash
Some tips on how we do the short leash today on Headhunters Fly Shop Blog. We use Palsa Tabs for the indicator on this rig. But you can get away with yarn, small Thingamabobbers, or a smaller indicator of your…
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Two Fly Trout Spey Rig
Two Fly Trout Spey Rig Today we look at one way to rig the Two Fly Trout Spey Rig. I have been rocking this rig tied onto the end of my Sage 3110 Trout Spey rod for the last month…
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5 Missouri River Tips for a better weekend
5 Missouri River Tips for a better weekend Short Leash. Rig the bobber rig with a couple Pals Tabs and roll. Find that skinny water and toss it in. 2′-3′ for the distance between bobber and bottom fly. Or go…
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Openings @ Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School
Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School – 2018 Openings for the 2018 Adv Fishing School. Openings for both sessions. Call Mark @ 406-459-8739 or email him mark@headhuntersflyshop.com for any questions about our schools upcoming. Want to get better at…
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The 5 Don’ts of Dry Fly Fishing
The 5 Don’ts of Dry Fly Fishing We speak often about the ways to catch fish. Today we speak briefly about the way you can assure that you do not catch as many dry fly fish. The number one way…
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Tuesday Missouri River How it Works High Water Nymphing Tech
Tuesday Missouri River How it Works High Water Nymphing Tech The top tips for the high water period this week fishing Montana’s Missouri River in Craig Montana. Brought to you from your fly fishing source on the Mighty Mo Headhunters…
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How to Capitalize on Spring Time Fishing Flows
How to Capitalize on Spring Time Fishing Flows Guide Eric Mondragon landing a trout with his dog TD in 2011 in the image above. Our last high water year. 2011 was big like 1997. Look at the Russian Olive trees…
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March SPEY CASTING Madness @ Headhunters Fly Shop
March SPEY CASTING Madness We are launching our March SPEY CASTING Madness schedule today on the Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service Blog. March 23rd, 24th, and 25th with 3 spey clinics raising the bar on your Spey Game! It…
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The Comprehensive Guide to Guided Fishing Trips
Lots of folks call the shop and inquire about guide services. Many of you who have not had the wonderful opportunity to be guided before, you are in for a trout fishing treat. Squeeky’s father suggested he write this blog…
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2017-18 Trout Spey Lineup
The 2017-18 Spey season has begun on the Missouri River, and it’s time to layout the gear we use while swinging the Mo’. Last season we began a transition from 6 and 7 weight spey outfits down to true ultralight…
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How to Clean a Fly Line Part 1
How to Clean a Fly Line Part 1 I love clean fly lines. Who doesn’t? Today on the Headhunters Blog we have a vid from RIO about how to get it clean. Want ultimate performance from your fly line? Clean…
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Chartreuse Little Green Machine
Blue Winged Olives With snow the last couple days, river temps are continuing to drop. This morning the water temp was 54.5 degrees. As this trend continues, we will continue to see lots of pseudos. Before too long we will…
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2 Spots Open for Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School
2 spots open for the first session of the Headhunters Advanced Fly Fishing School October 5-8. Call today for add’l info! Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School Want to get better at fishing the Missouri River? Want to improve…
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3 Hot Missouri River Rigs for the Weekend
3 Hot Missouri River Rigs for the Weekend We have not turned the corner but the daily river reports from anglers up and down are becoming more consistent as we move beyond the first week of September. We love September…
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Six Essential Flies For The Missouri River
A couple days ago, I was digging through one of my fly tying drawers and I found an old shuttle sheet. The shuttle sheet was dated December 29, 2015. On the back of it were scribbled several lists of six…
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Trout Flies By Gary Lafontaine
I have always loved the writing of Gary Lafontaine. The first post I ever wrote for this blog was about his theory of color attraction. I have read a lot of books about fly fishing and fly tying, but Trout…
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Spents and Spinners
Spents and Spinners Dead shit. That is what we throw. July is full of dead bugs. And live ones too. The dead ones are easier to eat. Honest. Fish them with confidence. As you can see I am becoming sun…
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Sunday Mid-Summer Missouri River Tips
Sunday Mid-Summer Missouri River Tips A few quick tips from your friends at Headhunters Fly Shop in downtown Craig Montana this sunny and seasonal Sunday Mid-Summer morning. The fishing is great. Get out early and enjoy the day before the…
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Crawfish Flies For the Missouri River
At some point every spring, trout in the Missouri River start eating a lot of crawfish. It is difficult to know exactly when this will happen, but below are some facts that should aid in your angling success. The Spring Spawn…
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High Water Vid from a few years back
High Water Vid from a few years back A quick video from 6 years back, our last high water era, with instructional overtones. While this video is a few years old, it still applies to us today. Meaning today! Fish…
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Juvie Jigger Streamer Strikes!
Juvie Jigger Streamer At the end of April, Headhunters hosted a Spring Streamer Fly Tying Contest on our Facebook page. We received a ton of awesome entries. Choosing a winner was tough. Each shop staffer and several guides selected their…
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Those who Row or Why do some catch more nymphing than others.
A re-post of an article I wrote a couple years ago. I lieu of the high water we are having the drift boat makes a lot more sense than wading. Wading at 6,000 cfs becomes more difficult. Wade fishing at…
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Try the Dry Dropper Rig
Try the Dry Dropper Rig Tired of chasing the bobber down the river? Don’t like deep nymhping? Want to break out on the edge? Like the looks a Parachute Adams drifting along peacefully next to the bank? Then a Dry…
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Hangman Spey Video – Mike McCune
Here’s a valuable casting video Mike McCune and I recently shot. Valuable because it is the spey cast I see Mike executing more often than not when we are trout fishing. I have had a number of customers ask me…
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Ninch’s Fish Finder Worm
Ninch’s Fish Finder Worm needs to be in your box. Fish like worms. Rising water flushes worms from the banks and bottom of the river into the current. Last week the flows increased from around 5,000 cfs to the current…
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Spring Streamers / Streamer Fly Tying Contest
Spring Streamer Fishing Spring is a great time to fish streamers on the Missouri River. At the time of this writing, the river is flowing at 6,880 cfs and temps are around 45 degrees F. These higher flows and increased temps…
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Stalcup’s Cluster Midge
Stalcup’s Cluster Midge Needs To Be In Your Box Stalcup’s Cluster Midge is one of my favorite midge patterns. I always have some in my box during the spring and then again in July when the tricos start to hatch. This…
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Rowing 101
Hire a guide then take out a rental boat. This is the natural progression, as Mark as has described it, for learning the Missouri River. Hiring a guide and asking him/her a bunch of questions allows you to learn the…
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Missouri River April May Fly Fishing Forecast
Missouri River April May Fly Fishing Forecast Squeeky attended the annual Upper Missouri River water Advisory Meeting last week and got the skinny on the upcoming water flow predictions and the update on the trout populations. Lots of folks in…
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Why Get Guided?
Why Get Guided? We hear this question a lot in the shop. Mark has written about the subject here and here. If you’ve wondered the same question, I’d recommend that you read these links. The following is a short and timely…
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Please Leave Redds Alone!
Please leave trout redds in the river alone! Rainbow trout are actively spawning in the river now and will continue to do so for the next couple months. The Missouri River is one of the best wild trout fisheries in…
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Missouri River Bugs – April
Last week we collected our first sample of bugs from the Missouri River below the Untouchable’s Bridge. The bugs that we collected were about what you would expect for April. Sows and scuds composed the majority of the biomass, but midges and…
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Be Deliberate – Nymphing Tips
Be deliberate in your actions when you are fishing. Lately we have been doing a lot of nymphing and having a lot of success, especially below Craig. However, the success has not been distributed equally. The anglers who have a…
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Casting Range
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! For many anglers springtime means “gear time”. Lots of things on the to-do list. Cleaning lines, tying flies, cleaning out that mess you call a boat bag, and for many it means some new equipment. In…
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Casting Lessons
Over the years, we have provided casting lessons to all kinds of people in all kinds of scenarios. But they have always been by request, including our popular spey casting clinics over the winter months. Recently we have seen an…
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Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School
Headhunters Fly Shop Advanced Fly Fishing School Want to get better at fishing the Missouri River? Want to improve your dry fly cast? Presentation? Fish finding skills? Well we do too! And this fall we once again offer Headhunters Fly…
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Missouri River Winter Nymph Fishing Success: Shane’s Top 3 Tips
Missouri River Winter Nymph Fishing Success Shane again with today’s Headhunter’s blog post. We’re starting to see some more consistent warmish weather roll in, and it’s definitely bringing people to the river. I was able to get out last week…
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Freddy Fly Step By Step
Freddy Fly Step By Step Before the Chubby Chernobyl, John Foust’s Freddy Fly (or Fat Freddy) was a staple pattern throughout the West. Foust invented the fly for the waters around Missoula, but it has caught fish all over the world.…
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Fishing Report – Get Out There!
This Past Week It’s hard to believe that the Super Bowl was only one week ago. A lot has changed on the river in the past week. We received significant snow fall during the middle of last week that added to the…
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January Flies – Winter Nymphs and Streamers
The air temps have been well below freezing for the last few weeks, but there have been a handful of anglers out fishing. If you’re able to tolerate the cold temps, and have the right January flies, winter fishing can be very good.…
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Trout Spey Rigs: Braden
Trout Spey Rigs: Braden Today on the Headhunters Fly Shop Blog we have Braden’s Trout Spey Rig. We thought it would be helpful if we outlined what we use here on the Missouri River during the Swing Season. Braden, and…
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