Mid Week Missouri River Update
River dropping to 4100 cfs today. Lets hope it stays at least that level. We need it for the remainder of the summer. Keep those water temps down. Only time will tell how it will go down.
Dry fly fishing is great. Nymphing is great, specifically at the dam. Streamer fishing not good as there is too much weed in the water coumn for any kind of consistent success.
Missouri River Morning Session
Get out early and get it done. Trico’s off daily. Emergers in the wee hours with the weather being quite warm. Spent caddis around as well.
Your Trico box will be front and center for the morning sesh. Spinner fall happens about 9am. Trico spinners are the key. Double wings, single wings, Quig’s Clusters, G-Gnats, and Buzzballs.
You can also through a caddis or a PMD at them. Good times as the fish are fresh. Fresh fish are always better. The 9th angler does not have the same opportunities as the early bird.
Late Morning for the DFO Feller
Spents. All spents. Junk is becoming more prevalent. The PMD spinner fall has hopefully happened. Trust Rusty and the chartreuse one as well can get it done. And does. Trico spinners, PMD spinners, and Caddis spinners!
Plan your next couple hours smartly. Keep moving and keep those casts good. First cast is the best cast. Don’t blow it early in the session. Presentation is important. Perfect drifts are important.
Missouri River Mid-Day Antics
Oh boy does it get hard. First cast is the option that can be good for you. Make sure you drop your anchor quietly. Wade in on them quietly.
Approach the fish with purpose and don’t blow it early in the session. Skittering caddis can get some attention. Dead flies don’t swim either. Try an ant?
And that is all for today. It can go south as the day gets by you. So be prepared and stay focussed. Losing your focus can lead to dry nets.
A reach cast or some sort of clack line cast is damn important. Really look at your drift and see if it sliding. Most of the time it may be. Draw an imaginary grid and watch your fly as it travels through the zone. It may be sliding. If it is, no fish.
See you on your favorite dry fly flat as we move into the middle of July. We love it!
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2 Comments.
“Really look at your drift and see if it sliding. Most of the time it may be. Draw an imaginary grid and watch your fly as it travels through the zone. It may be sliding. If it is, no fish.”
This is such a great tip. So often on the Missouri your fly appears to be in a dead drift but is actually subtly skittering across the surface as microcurrents pull it this way and that–even when you’ve thrown a big upstream or stack mend. Any advice on dealing with that, oh Squeaky One?
Tom,
Stronger reach casts. I think. Set up higher on the fish. Mend towards the fly, not away. Meaning if you toss line towards the faster current, which most do, it will slide. Also recognize that the water your fly is a different pace. The water speed under your rod tip is commonly much quicker…so sending lots of line is important. Commonly the pace under your rod tip is a 2 feet per second. So, to keep up you gotta send a ton of line out there!
Hope this helps Tom!