Baetis on the Missouri
Looking for great dry fly fishing (sometimes with unlimited targets) with light traffic? Then you are going to want to fish the Baetis (a.k.a. Blue Winged Olives) on Montana’s Missouri River. For this article we’re going to talk about the 35 or so miles of river between Holter Dam and the town of Cascade.
For a quick description of this section we’ll say Fly Fishing Heaven on Earth. Exaggeration? Not really. A series of dams on the Missouri create a consistent, substantial, flow of cold water that makes this a giant spring creek. Incredible numbers of large Rainbow and Brown trout inhabit this stretch and they love to eat on the surface!
The Hatch: Depending on the year, Baetis start showing up sometime in the spring. April, May and early June give us the spring hatch. Late September, October, and November bring them back again. That’s right! Again! Like to sleep in? This is the perfect hatch for you. This hatch usually starts late mornings or even early to mid afternoon. Worried about Montana’s proclivity for poor weather in the spring and fall? Stop it! Baetis hatches are best on cloudy, rainy, snowy days. Bad weather also keeps the hatching duns on the water longer which gets more trout looking up. The fish don’t mind the weather. Blankets of bugs and uncountable rising fish have a tendency to keep anglers warm as well.
Equipment: Our rod of choice is a 5 weight with a weight forward floating line. For nymphing (if you must) 7-9 foot leaders with 4X fluorocarbon tippet is what you’ll want. For dry flies a 9 ft. leader tapered down to 5X is the choice. Mono or fluoro can be used. Mono tends to not sink as fast, but I usually stick with my fluoro spools.
For the spring nymphing we run indicators 6 to10 feet from the first nymph. I like to use a tungsten Perdigon or Spanish Bullet to get it deep and trail it with a Splitback, Pheasant Tail or Baetis nymph of your choice. Split shot is usually added to this rig.
Fall nymphing is much shallower and lighter as the fish are usually still hanging on their summer shelfs. 2 Baetis nymphs 18-24 inches under the indicator is a typical set up. No split shot is used at this time.
We don’t fish anything smaller than 5X for rising fish. Anything lighter and you’re breaking off these big fish or, even worse, playing them too long. Protect them from the stress of a long fight. With a proper downstream presentation, tippet size makes minimal difference. Fly selection can vary. The most important feature is visibility. Prioritize being able to pick your bug out of the constant flow of Baetis duns and down wings in the feeding lane. Going up a size in your pattern is usually an option. If you’re not getting eats, it’s usually timing or a tiny bit of drag on your drift. Practice your reach cast!!!
Tips: Try to approach from upstream. Fishing across is not ideal, but can be productive with a precise cast with a lot of slack. Fishing down and across is where you’ll have the most success. Think 45 degree angles and less. Usually we anchor and post up on pods of rising fish. Sometimes waiting for several minutes before throwing a cast. Looking for the biggest fish in the most inviting lane. Don’t beat yourself up too much if you miss or put down a fish. There’s always more rising fish that are eager to eat your fly on the Mo!
If you would like more info on the fishing or would like to join us at the lodge please contact us. We’d love to hear from you. Or, even better, take you fishing!