Fishing Reports

Missouri River - September 5th, 2010

Recorded:
65 ° F
Fishing: Great

Weather was a little cooler today. Cloudy off and on there was a decent caddis hatch coming off the whole time. We floated from Mid Canon to Mnt. Palace. Nymphing seemed consistent. Pheasant tails, caddis nypmhs, and we landed a fish on the Keller's Good Night as well. Late the caddis hatch was getting better as we were taking off. I think streamers will be a good idea as soon as the weeds leave. There are plenty of loose weeds floating on the lower witch makes the nymphing a little frustrating. However, there were fish to throw to on top nearly the whole way.

Missouri River - September 5th, 2010

Recorded:
65 ° F
Fishing: Great

Weather was a little cooler today. Cloudy off and on there was a decent caddis hatch coming off the whole time. We floated from Mid Canon to Mnt. Palace. Nymphing seemed consistent. Pheasant tails, caddis nypmhs, and we landed a fish on the Keller's Good Night as well. Late the caddis hatch was getting better as we were taking off. I think streamers will be a good idea as soon as the weeds leave. There are plenty of loose weeds floating on the lower witch makes the nymphing a little frustrating. However, there were fish to throw to on top nearly the whole way.

Missouri River - August 19th, 2010

Recorded:
80 ° F
Fishing: Great

8/14/10
I am back form a short trip to Homer, AK for a family wedding. Got a little fishing in on the Upper Kenai with my good friend Fred Teleen of Mystic Waters. Great day on an incredible river. Good to be back on the MO. I was greeted with hungry fish below the Dam very eager to eat #18 black Zebra Midges. The number of risers has slipped quite a bit but you can still go out and find some very picky fish. Hoppers should be working better than they are, it seems to be a day to day affair. The Dam to WC bridge is the most consistent water by far. Black Zebra, Lil' Green Machines, WD-40, Sawyer PT's, Purple weight fly have all been getting good response. Did I mention the Black Zebra Midge? The recent rains should keep our H20 temps down a bit which will help keep the mighty MO healthy for the last push into September. The MO is in good shape right now with very minimal weeds for August. Treat our fish well. Put the heat on them and land them asap. Enjoy Late August.......Holy smokes it's late August!

-Brian - Finfetchers

Missouri River - July 28th, 2010

Recorded:
77 ° F
Fishing: Excellent

If you're not on the Mo or haven't been the last couple weeks, you're missing out. I waded last night above Craig and there were more heads up within a hundred yard radius than I've seen up on the river the entire year. When I began fishing around 5:30 pm , fish were feeding on dead crap on the water. By dead crap I mean: spent pmds, cripple pmds, dead caddis, pretty much bits and pieces of spent bugs that hatched from the previous few days. By about 7pm the fish had keyed onto the evening caddis which were out in droves. Light, long tippet and drag-free downstream or reach casts are absolutely necessary. Persistence pays off too. Flies you'll want to have include:

Dries: D-duck caddis, Duck Butt caddis, Fertile caddis, S's CDC caddis emerger, Bloom's Sedge Hammer, Translucent pupa, S's Freestone Cripple, CDC Para-spinner pmd, Last Chance cripple, Film Critic pmd

Nymphs: Deep sparkle pupa, tung darts, ascending caddis, military mays, purple lightning bugs, S's CDC BB bubbleback, quasimodo pt, red headed stepchild

Streamers: What ever creation you have laying around. Big, small, it doesn't really matter. Expect a lot of fish moving to streamers, but don't expect all of the fish to eat.

-Cornfed

Missouri River - July 23rd, 2010

Recorded:
70 ° F
Fishing: Great

Everything is awesome now except.... the most intense Mosquito hatch of all time once evening falls. Fish are up all over on Caddis, PMD's, and then tricos in the morning. There have been lots of Yellow Sallys in the canyon sections. Sam fished from Craig to Dearborn last night and there was lots of caddis and fish up on them the whole way. Fish were a bit choosey still on fly patterns and couldn't throw anything at them. Try throwing micro caddis and the emerger is important to add to the back of the dry right now. Make sure to bring bug spray, mosquito netting, a buff, anything to keep them off of you. With the river fluctuations and wet season there is an insane amount of them around once it gets to evening. Ran in to Brian Neilsen in Craig and he had got off the water and said fishing was great for them as well. Fish are eating PMD dries, try Smith's Freestone Cripple, and of course nymphing a splitback pmd, crackback pmd, or cdc bubbleback pmd is all producing as well.

Missouri River - July 20th, 2010

Recorded:
80 ° F
Fishing: Great

Very good stuff on the Mo right now. Floated the Dam to Craig yesterday and it fished very well (minus the gale force north wind that blew midway through). At 5750cfs, the river is catering to both wade fishermen and drifters. Mid-day headhunting has turned from a here and there deal to an all day affair with fish looking up primarily for pmds and caddis. For the finicky risers, try a Bloom's ant with a Last Chance Cripple PMD behind it. The caddis have been coming off in droves riverwide, providing for some of the best dry fly fishing of the year as the day turns to evening. Cornfed caddis, Bloom's caddis, CDC submergers, and translucent pupas should keep you bent up. Nymphing throughout the heat of the day will continue to put the most fish in the boat with smaller lightning bugs, red head stepchilds, military mayflies, and C-N superflashes leading the charge, but you should also have some tungsten parrots and deep sparkle pupas with you. Look for hoppers to begin working within a week or two.

-Cornfed