Fishing Report 7/23/24
By: Craig DeMark
“Perception, attitude and skill. The heart of dry fly season”
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do one of these. This is the season. May to July becomes a blur here in the canyon. We saw some old friends and introduced ourselves to new ones. The lodge gives us and everyone that visits, a chance to forget about the everyday world and enter the aura of the Missouri river. Enjoy this incredible river, eat meals we don’t deserve, and just talk fishing ... the great uniter. 3 more months of bliss! We still have some availability. (I would be thinking about August Hopper fishing or October if I was you).
It’s been hot. 3 weeks now of really hot weather. Today it hit 102 and it looks like the same tomorrow. Relief finally on the way this weekend. 80s for a few days and then back to the 90s. Much better than triple digits. Many rivers in Montana have hoot owl closures. Meaning that they are closed to fishing during the period that they experience the highest water temperatures. 2PM to Midnight. The term “Hoot Owl” has something to do with loggers, owls and fires…? Still not sure what this has to do with rivers and trout but I digress. Some of those rivers might be facing total closures if the dry, hot weather continues. So far, the Missouri does not have any restrictions. It may happen, but really won’t affect our fishing. Right now, we are leaving the lodge before 7 AM and getting off the river between 2PM and 3 PM. The mornings are the heart of fishing right now. The 2PM to Midnight closure wouldn’t change what we are doing.
The morning dry fly fishing is great right now. Trico spinner fall, leftover PMD cripples and spinners and caddis have the fish looking up. By early afternoon the sun gets high and hot, the hatch wanes, and the trout retreat to deeper runs amongst the drifting weeds. Fish early and hard then go somewhere cool, like the trout, in the middle of the afternoon. Decide your game plan for the next day over drinks in the evening, then repeat starting at 6 AM the next morning.
All of the aforementioned brings me to the title of our fishing report/discussion/coach session. For a portion of my former life I was a high school basketball coach. Something we would talk to parents and players about was things they could control. We would cite the things they can’t control. Your size. Your athleticism. Your teammates. Your coach’s style and perception of other players.(This is a tricky one because there are a lot of bad coaches that don’t develop players and have their own agenda. I will debate this with anyone, but let’s move on)
What can players control? Attitude and effort. Basically staying positive and working hard. Which brings us to this time of year on this river. Going back to the weather, it’s been hot. This means the river has a lot of floating weeds due to the growth and the fishing/recreation activity. The April-June days of chasing a bobber with 2 nymphs and having 40 fish days are not going to happen right now. The plopping of a 20 foot cast sideways and throwing a couple of mends is not the way of the river right now. It will be back come September, but this time of year requires different skills and a different attitude.
So this comes down to you. Yes, I am staring directly at you. What is your definition of successful fishing? Cruising down the middle of the river with an indicator rig and hooking fish you had no idea were there? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. Lots of people don’t have a lot of time to fly fish. They get their annual or less trip to Montana and want to feel the rod bend and get their photo with some beautiful trout. It doesn’t matter how they do it, they just want to catch fish. I totally get that and there are times I don’t want to think and just stare at the bobber until it stops. Catch that fish and relax. That’s totally fine and very effective.
But this time of year is different and the reason why it’s my personal favorite. It’s the time of year to test and teach skills. There are dry fly opportunities on the Missouri pretty much every day from April to October. That’s a major reason we chose to be here. However, this time of year, dry fly fishing becomes the mainstay. The weeds make indicator rigs difficult to fish. If you do it you have to maintain a good attitude. Flick those weeds off and get it back in the water. You won’t catch fish if you’re not in the water. Dry/dropper is an option that is less weedy. (more on that later) Better yet, don’t put anything subsurface on. Commit to the dry fly. Stalk those giant heads eating softly on the banks and flats in the morning. The Technique: We slowly stop the boat at a good distance. Watch the fish you target eat several times before you make the first cast. Be able to throw a 40 foot reach or pile cast with no false casts. Have plenty of line stripped from your reel so you can feed that drag free drift a little longer. Don’t make any ripples from the boat. Let the drift go a long way past the rising fish before you pull it with no false casts and hit him again. If you get a weed, don’t get discouraged. Recognize that those weeds are a result of this river being so fertile and producing the number and size of trout that you get to make those casts to. The feeling of excitement you get when that fish eats your fly like it just ate the 87 Trico spinners before it, exceeds any frustration you felt before that infinitely! When you fight him on 5X through reel screaming runs and torpedo shots into weed beds, that feeling turns to pure panic! When we slide the net under a monster that we can’t believe didn’t break the tippet with all those weeds on the leader you will make noises and gestures that are usually reserved for things other than a simple fish.
This style of fishing is addictive in its purest form. And I’m an addict. Is your perception of success solely in the number of trout you catch? Is your perception of success being able to target big numbers of large rising trout and having the opportunity to present those fish your fly? There’s not a wrong answer, but your answer dictates the time of year should be here. Quality experiences are in the eye of the beholder. Let us know what you want.
Now to the nuts and bolts of the current fishing. I’ll start with nymphing. If you want to fish an indicator rig, I would stay in the upper reaches of the system. From the dam to Craig. Fewer weeds. You also lose some weeds below Prewitt Creek in the fast water. The earlier in the day the better down there though. Frenchies, Jig style soft hackles, Pheasant tail variations,and Zebra midges are working the best. Usually you don't need extra weight now if you use weighted flies. Play with the depth depending on location and time of day. Anywhere from 6 to 3 feet to the bottom bug.
Dry-dropper is a pretty good alternative to indicator nymphing right now. I’m running a hopper as the dry/indicator and getting the occasional eat on that. The droppers are Frenchies, Zebra midges and jig soft hackles such as the France fly. Play with the depth here as well. Early in the day it might be 12 inches and a Zebra Midge, later 3 ½ feet with the soft hackle. Different sections vary with the bugs eaten. A little more on the hopper… The number of hoppers I am seeing is increasing every day. The fish aren’t quite keyed on them yet. They will be very soon. I anticipate the hopper fishing to be very good next month. Right now it’s just enough to keep you interested. That’s going to change. Soon it’s going to be Mullet haircut fishing as Warren calls it. Business in the front (posting up, fishing Tricos to heads in the morning) Party in the rear (prospecting with single hoppers all afternoon).
As mentioned before, dry fly addicts are loving the river right now. Find some heads in the morning and fish a Trico or Rusty Spinner. Roll along and throw randomly rising fish a Rusty spinner trailed by a caddis. A little later, blind fish an ant or small hopper. It’s all fun and rewarding.
Get up early. Get off early. Don’t get frustrated by some weeds. Rip it off the fly and get it back in the water. Don’t get frustrated because the fish didn’t eat your Trico. It was probably dragging a little or a little out of its lane. Get better and enjoy the challenge and opportunity you are presented with. Attitude and effort. You’re fishing the Mo in the pinnacle of dry fly season. Where else would you want to be?