Missouri River Report 3.22.17

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By Johnny Ewald

The fishing report on the Missouri River has been good to great and will continue trending upward as the water temperatures rise. Right now anything pink, fire beady, black, brown, olive and slender in the nymph category will get fish to eat subsurface. Slow and deep is key, but don’t be afraid to find water a bit faster than walking pace speed. Rainbow trout are in that staging period before they spawn and will move into some of the faster moving buffet lines to bulk up. Swingers with their two hander of choice are still getting trout to grab on small leechy patterns. The balanced leech trumps most others we carry in the shop, they have been red hot and will continue to produce on stillwaters during ice out. We just received a variety from one of our fly vendors: Fulling Mill. Come into the shop today and grab a handful, they won’t last long!

If you want to stay current with the river, we have the most recent temperatures and flows here

The dry fly bite has been very inconsistent this winter and mostly non existent. That is all about to change! The midges love these warmer temps and we should see (fingers crossed) a good midge showing before April 1st.  History shows it does happen. Will it this year? We sure hope so!

Just as with the theme of the color green for St. Patty’s day, we start to think green or olive meaning - Baetis! We are on the brink of change. The winter season is on its tail end and things subsurface are stirring a bit. April and May will bring Baetis galore and our first real taste of dry fly fishing on the Missouri River this year. But just because we don’t see the duns on the surface yet doesn’t mean you should keep throwing pink.

Now is the time to switch it up and throw BWO PT variations. Change it up. I bet the trout are gorged full of scuds and sows and want to taste something different. If you ate hot dogs all winter, wouldn’t you want to change it up and start eating cheeseburgers?  It’s kinda like that.  Patterns we like are Radiation Baetis in pink, orange and peacock flavors. A staple is The Little Green Machine. Don’t leave home without em. Others include Juju, Jaun’s High Def, Wayno’s BH Baetis, Shot Glass, S&M, BWO Magic Fly, Aero Baetis and Two Bit Hookers. These patterns will definitely get a trouts attention after seeing scuds and sows all winter. It might still be a few weeks until we see that magical 42F water temp mark for the BWO hatch to pop, but the party is just getting started subsurface. So nymph responsibly!

Need to stock up on flies? Check out our fly selection here

As the season transitions along, we will also see the first sign of the bigger bug of the new year. The skawla makes its appearance for the short lived hatch on the Mo. Keep a box of chubbys or deer hair foamies with you at all times these next couple weeks. Skawlas can be sneaky and climb out onto the rocky rip rap banks at any given moment. Being prepared, throwing a big meal to that willing trout can be a game changer!

Keep an eye out for the smaller rivers and creeks to flow more as we see warmer temps moving through. Reports have been coming in on Belt Creek. The warmer spike in temps this past week and ahead will definitely bring water levels up a bit. The Dearborn has come up so watch for a bit of color being pumped into the Mo above Mid Canyon. A heavy Wire Worm or San Juan just might be the ticket.

We love Spring weather and what it brings here at North 40 Fly Shop. Spring fever is in the air for sure. We’ve seen an influx of fishy folks in the shop this past two weeks. We all have the itch as air temps rise and the days feels a lot more springy then wintry. Speaking of air, we just received the new Winston Air and boy does it feel sweet! We also have a ton of new Loop rods, reels and fly lines in the shop ready to be tested on your local waters.

Come in and pick mine or Fred’s brain about any of our latest products. We are happy to set you up right and get you out fishing on your favorite fishery today! Morning light coffee is always hot and FREE so come pull up a stool and let us point you in the direction of fish. We love talking fly fishing, it’s why we do what we do. We’ll see you here- or out on the river.

If you need extra gear before you go, we got you covered. Check out everything fly fishing here