Missouri River Report 12.15.16

I did not catch a fish last week. I did wader up and venture forth, but my favorite location was already icing in by Wednesday and the open water was slushy. I took a couple casts just because. I could barely get my line back on the reel. In two casts, my 300 grain head went to about 600 with ice buildup. During the previous week, the run I chose was fishing really well. With slush on top and ice cauliflowering up from the bottom, it was pretty clear I won’t be enjoying that location until after a major thaw.

Winter stayed comfortably distant all the way through November, but the mercury dropped precipitously when December arrived. That’s ok. That’s to be expected. It's hard water season for many anglers. Ice is forming nicely. Hopefully we’ll get a good snowpack to follow.

Looking back, I can’t complain. I have fished steadily for the past 11 months. Last January was mild and fishy. February was good. March was good. April was great. May was excellent. June is now my favorite month in Montana. July was really good. August wasn’t bad. September was great. October was excellent and November started out excellent and ended pretty good. December may be a bust, but if I get a window before January rolls around, I will get back out there.

And if you need gear to keep you warm over the couple months, you'll want to check out these options.

If you venture out after this deep freeze, your best bet is going to be to head up high toward Holter Dam. The water up top is still running comparatively warm to anywhere lower down. The fish up there keep their feed bags on.

The usual winter fare of scuds, sows, midges and worms are the flavors in favor. Firebeads and pink patterns will rotate as the daily specials. Other flies of note are the Mini Mo Czech, Mo Zebra and the Tufted Zebra. Fish them near the bottom and be ready for the delicate bites of winter.

You can buy the patterns listed above from us right here, or load up on winter tying supplies here.

Anglers will likely be surprised by the current flows on the Missouri River. The water is up over 5000 cfs right now. There is a drawdown of Canyon Ferry in progress. The hope is to freeze out any zebra mussel larvae along the shorelines. If you don’t know about zebra mussels, you might want to read up on them. They are spreading throughout waters across the nation. It’s only a matter of time before they spread their way through the Missouri River system.

For now, it’s business as usual. By that I mean Christmas shopping. If you want someone in your family to get you the right stuff, let us know what you want. I keep a gift registry on my computer. You can also give me a call or send an email with any requested items. Help your gift givers to help you get the right stuff. Additionally, we’ve got lots of great items from Simms, but if we don’t have what you want, there is still time for me to order it in before Christmas.

If you're in the market for good winter reading, we just released this eMag full of snow fodder to kill the time.