Great Falls Fishing Report 11.30.17

Missouri River, Montana

The Missouri River is like the Energizer Bunny—it’s still gong and it just won’t quit. Neither will some dedicated anglers. Which makes sense—I don’t know what you call it when the air temp cracks 60 degrees in late November. Obviously, it’s too late to call it Indian summer, and ice fishing still needs to come before we could call it spring. I guess you could simply say it’s a great window to go fishing without a jacket, hat and gloves.

The first thing I noticed on a recent float, besides the temperature, were the quantity of midges out. Not only were they out, but fish were rising to them. However, the crew I’ve been fishing with lately could care less—the water is still warm enough for streamers, so the midge eaters were safe . . . for now.

Streamers

The streamer game has been strong enough to chuck and retrieving all day. If you choose to do just that, you will get enough action to be happy. We got fish on big, articulated stuff, including rainbows and browns. Galloup’s venerable Dungeon in olive got crushed by a rainbow on the first cast. Hungry brown attacked a white Pearl Necklace. A black Miss October was a hit from multiple fish. Big flies will continue to move some aggressive fish on the Mo, but smaller streamers rack up the numbers. The black and copper Flash N’ Grab was the moneymaker. On either the strip or the swing, the FNG got plenty of grabs through all kinds of water, and accounted for a meaty 22-inch brown.

We found fish on skinny breaks, against the rocks and in slow inside bends. The pattern was to simply keep covering water. That’s the crazy thing about the Mo. Fish seem to come from all types of water.

Nymphs

Late season nymphing is really good. I only tried a couple spots for R&D/reporting purposes, but in those places, fish were on it like door-busters on Black Friday. Eggs, scuds, sows and midges garner enough eats that you won’t need to do much changing of the flies.

Dries

I strung up my 4-weight with BWO anticipation. We saw a few on the water in the morning along with the midges, but when the afternoon hatch period arrived, so did the wind. It got bad. The 4-weight saw no action. It seems that there are plenty of fish that are conditioned to feed on top this year. You’ll just have to be ready when the weather cooperates.

Trout Spey

The water has been hovering above 40 degrees coming out of Holter Dam. It’s about to drop below 40. That’s when the swing game becomes a primary tactic. We’ve preached the merits of trout spey for many years. Pick up a spey rod. Work on your casting. Enjoy the scenery. Alternate hands in pockets to retain warmth. You’ll likely find plenty of willing fish and you won’t find a more enjoyable way to dangle a fly.

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