June 22nd Missouri River Update

Greetings from the canyon! It's currently 45 degrees and raining on June 22nd. Just balmy. In the last 3 days we’ve seen the temps touch the 30’s, wind gusts over 30 miles an hour, and quite a bit of rain. Before the weather came we had temps in the 80s and lots of sun. Variety is the spice of life I suppose. Despite the changing conditions, fishing has remained consistent with the Pale Morning Duns out in full force.

The nymphing has been great as of late, whether you are deep or shallow. Deep nymphing is producing more fish, while the average shallow fish is slightly bigger. PMD nymphs are the name of the game right now, think frenchies and split backs. We had a full lodge last week and had some great days throwing PMD patterns. We also had some fun throwing dries on the same trip. The dry fly fishing right now is what you think of when you think of the Mo’. Everything is on the menu, and those dedicated to throwing the dry will be rewarded when they get the right drift. 

There are plenty of PMD duns on the water in the morning, and tons of spent spinners left over in the afternoons with big fish gorging on the surface. This is the bread and butter right now. Picture it. We’re anchored up, sitting above a small pod of rising fish in shallow riffles. You throw a reach cast 6 feet above the biggest head. You feed the line down to get that fly in front of his nose. You watch as a big brown in gin clear water rises slowly to engulf your dry, just like he’s done with 100 naturals before your fly floated in his lane. After you set the hook, he goes from 0 to 100 in an instant in a foot of water, splashing and thrashing as you hold on, praying your size 16 hooks stays buttoned. What’s there not to like? 

As for other dry opportunities, the caddis hatch is growing right now, with more and more hatching daily. Blind fishing caddis into the banks is bringing some noses to the surface. We’re also seeing some Yellow Sallies in the canyon right now. They sure seem a lot bigger this year, but that's probably anecdotal. Fuzzy dries in the canyon are getting eats, whether the fish are eating them for Caddis or Sallies is up to debate. For PMD dries, Hi-Vis spinners and  Quigleys Cripples are getting slurped. For caddis, Corn Fed and Missing Links are on the menu.

Talking about the river as a whole, we’re seeing very regular flows right now. We’re sitting right around 4500 cfs, which is right at average. Flows have bounced a little with the rain, we got close to 5000 yesterday. Water temps are also about average, bouncing between 56.5 and 60 through the last week. This cooler weather is very welcomed, it always seems to rejuvenate the fish after a stretch of warmer weather. We should be settling back in the mid 70’s this next week, which should make for some consistent hatch timings. 

It's been a great season so far as we’re now in the middle of our busiest stretch of the year. Looking forward, caddis should really get going in the next couple of weeks. Then Tricos will start to be on the mind. If you’ve got questions about the river, fishing, or are looking to come fish with us, don’t be afraid to contact us. We still have a couple open slots this season for more spontaneous anglers, and we are also currently booking for the 26’ season. Hope to see you on the river soon!