Spring Time on the Missouri
By: Warren DeMark
It's been a busy late winter here at the Lodge. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks on the road, going city to city with the Fly Fishing Show. The shows have been great, it's always a pleasure to meet different people in this small world that is the fly fishing community. It's also nice to catch up with some of our guests at the shows. We also had the pleasure to attend a Puget Sound Fly-Fishers meeting and do a presentation on dry fly hatches on the Mo’. It was great to meet such a nice, local community for all levels of anglers. I highly recommend joining their club if you live in the area or joining your own local fly fishing club. It's a great way to learn new techniques, find new fishing buddies, or get involved in some conservation efforts.
After being on the road for nearly a month straight, you start to daydream about trout. As temperatures creep up and the days get longer, you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And that light for me is April and May fishing. The spring season here is such a treat. Throughout our brutal winters, you look at the river and wonder how the trout make it to the next season. You look out to the stream and see ice flowing in feeding lanes. Sections of the river are completely iced over. The whole river has clouds of steam billowing off the water as 33 degree water is magnitudes warmer than sub zero weather. But you just know thousands of trout are near dormant, awaiting warmer weather and major hatches to emerge from their slumber. While there are fish to be caught in March, the Mo’ really starts to look like itself in April.
April is a month that is headlined by absurd nymph fishing. As the warmer water temps roll in, every single fish in the river needs to eat. They've spent the last 4 months at the bottom of deep slow pools, eating the occasional midge or sow bug. The cold water slows their metabolism and the deeper pools require the least amount of energy to live in. But in April they put the feeding bag on and become very active. The nymph fishing is so good because every fish needs to eat a lot of bugs to put some weight on, and dry fly hatches are a little less consistent unless you have some cloudy weather. Days with 20, 30, 40, or even 50 landed fish on nymphs are not unheard of. Slow stripping streamers can also be productive as bigger fish are looking for bigger meals in the early season. If the conditions do line up in April and you get heavy overcast, the dry fly fishing can be special. Early in the month you'll get giant midge hatches with fish slashing at clusters of midges. Once the water warms up enough for Baetis to hatch you’ll see fish rising in feeding lanes you didn’t even know existed. Last year in early April we had a really solid midge hatch, and most days we had opportunities on the dry with just the midge hatch. Late April last year we also experienced arguably the best dry fly fishing of the year with the Baetis hatch bringing up tons of fish all over the river. April is one of our least busy months because the weather can be unpredictable and cold, but if you take a chance at visiting in April and braving the weather, you can be rewarded with some unbelievable fishing.
May is similar to April but more consistent. Weather is a little nicer, fish are a little more active, and there are more regular Baetis hatches. Streamer fishing also really picks up this time of year, with some of the biggest fish of the year being caught on streamers in May. Nymphing remains highly effective, with 3-5 foot nymph rigs with scud, sowbug and Baetis flies bringing lots of fish to the net. The Baetis and blue wing hatch really takes off in May, with some great dry fly opportunities on most days and some amazing dry fly opportunities on cloudy days. I have a blog on here about fishing in May, if you're interested I recommend checking that out for a more in depth look at the fishing this time of year.
Spring fishing here is special and should not be overlooked when considering a trip to the Mo’. If you're not afraid of some cooler weather and want the chance to fish this river when it really wakes up, try to get here in April. If you want more consistent weather with more consistent hatches, try for May. Either way, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
