Great Falls, Montana Fishing Report 11.15.18
Missouri River
Winter relented after the start of the week. Fall seems to be back, and you should make the best of it while it lasts. Water temperatures on the Missouri are still at a level where fish stay active throughout most of the day. Fishing options remain pretty darn good.
Swing Season
The best part about the fall swing season is that the fish can still be found in quick water. That translates to lots of swings and lots of solid grabs. You can seldom go wrong swinging black balanced leeches, but there are a variety of ways to approach the swing game.
The micro-swing experience consists of throwing a little 2 or 3-weight with an integrated floating line or Scandi head and long tapered leader. Then tie in a brace of flies with a soft hackle off the back. The front fly can be a larger soft hackle, a small Clouser or a balanced leech.
For larger streamers and the possibility of a savage grab, upsize to a 4 or 5-weight outfit with a Skagit head, some T-8 and three feet of #12 leader material. Streamers from 3 to 4 inches with lots of movement can provoke hungry browns and aggressive rainbows. The list of patterns is long, but some prime choices include; bald eagle, Montana intruder, sculpzilla, mini d&d, mini dungeon, vendetta cray, and grand master phoenix.
When should you set the hook on the swing? Watch this.
Nymphs
Natural colored scuds and sows paired with mayfly nymphs and the ever-effective zebra and tufted zebra are the primary players. The hot bead and pink stuff will begin working when the water temperatures drop several more degrees. For now, natural colors and patterns seem best. Fish deep in the morning and deep all day if it’s working. Afternoons might provide the opportunity to go short with a dry dropper rig or Palsa indicator delivery in the 1 to 3-feet zone.
Dry Flies
Bwo cripples and emergers are still in the game. You might try midges in the morning if you can’t wait for the afternoon. Cluster midges with zebra droppers are generally good searching rigs. The baetis hatches are less consistent now, but a few bugs on the water will get the fish up. They still want to eat on top when they can.
Streamers
If you are not employing the trout Spey swing game, you can still get plenty of fish on the single hand. Whether you choose to fish from a boat or on foot, streamer fishing is always a great choice as we move through the late fall period. Smaller streamers will get you more fish. I like to fish the smaller flies on floating lines or intermediate tips. Larger streamers will focus you toward aggressive post-spawn browns. The big streamers fish best on sinking tips like the airflo streamer max or shovelhead.
There are so many patterns and colors to choose from. That’s part of the fun with streamers. Black or white, and sometimes yellow, are generally reliable colors, but brown and orange or gold and copper flash can sometimes light them up too. You’ll need to fish to find your magic bullet.
See past reports from the Great Falls region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.