Great Falls Report 11.22.17

Missouri River

“In this wind? You’re nuts.” Direct quote from a friend upon learning I’d fished last Sunday.

Am I nuts? Well maybe, but I was not alone. Two driftboats set off from Stickney Creek Landing on Sunday around 8:30 am. We’d made plans to go before the high-wind warnings, and honestly, we were not about to pass on a drift in late November when the air temp was well above freezing. If you want to go fishing, you go fishing when you can. The air temp was already 40 degrees and the water 41. What not to like?

I hooked a couple fish in the channel right out of the landing on a nymph rig and then switched to a white streamer. Two other boys stuck a nice brown a couple hundred yards into the main river on a black Circus Peanut. Another was hooked up soon after. Prospects were looking good.

We threw streamers for most of the day. After switching from light to dark, a black and copper Flash N Grab became the winner in our boat. We caught all browns until the end of the day, when suddenly it was rainbow, rainbow, and rainbow. We kept at it with the big flies and landed a number of browns. Black was the winning color.

I deployed a nymphing rig in a few key locations and found the fish right where I expected them to be. We stopped briefly adjacent to some bank-sippers and the first cast got eaten by a feisty rainbow. A couple more casts were well received and then the wind gusted straight down on the casting lane, so we went back to chucking streamers.

Trout spey reports continue to be good. Swinging leeches and soft-hackles will get you locked. We swung a few flies from the driftboat and that worked nicely.

So far, the fish are still eating in some of the sexy quick water, but that will change once the water drops a few more degrees. It’s still holding above 40 degrees and with continued mild temps and strong winds, it should stay there for another week or two. Seems you can’t have mild weather without the wind, but if you like fall fishing in Montana, the wind is going to be your companion.

I must admit our boat got hit by a microburst that spun us sideways and even pushed a little water over the gunnel. We remained calm and eased over to the landing, glad that we’d enjoyed a great day and that we did not finish it off by swimming. Be careful between Hardy Bridge and Prewitt Creek. That seems to be the hurricane zone.

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