Fishing Report
     and other news...
May 19,  2008
Note: Julie and I have moved up to Craig for the summer.  The best place to reach me will be at the shop, 406-235-3447, email, or leave a message on my cell phone. - John

MISSOURI RIVER
Sorry for the long delay...most of you realize that I am extremely busy with our new shop in Craig, and have been lazy about updating this site.  I'll try to do better.  You will find that our detailed fishing report at www.headhuntersflyshop.com is updated almost daily.

Fishing has been good to excellent on the Missouri in recent weeks.  The heat of this last weekend finally triggered huge hatches of mothers day caddis.  Not every fish in the river was on them, but the big Browns were.  Tandem rigs with a larger olive Caddis followed by a smaller CDC pattern caught every one if presented properly.  Hopefully, we will see these big Caddis continue through the week.

BWO's continue to hatch, as do March Browns.  Parachutes and cripples of either must be in your arsenal.  Soft hackles and emergers trailing a March Brown pattern are a great combo.  Smaller Caddis are begining to hatch on the lower river, but may slow down a bit with cooler weather in the forecast.

Nymphing is a reliable way to catch a bunch of fish, and the whole river is nymphing well.  On the upper stretches, use Zebras, Discos, PT flashbacks and WD 40's.  On the lower stretches, Caddis nymphs and pupa seem to produce better.  Worms and Scuds are worth trying everywhere, and will work better as the water gets dirtier.  Don't be afraid of the 'Mo with a little color in it.  Worms can produce big catches, as can streamers.

The Dearborn is putting some dirty water into the river, but not enough to affect the fishing.  Speaking of the Dearborn, it opened Saturday and was pretty dirty.  Report have not been good so far.  Give a call to Hedhunters (877-DRY-FLYS) if you want an up to the minute report.  Little Prickly Pear isn't dirty, however...

Headhunters Fly Shop & Guide Service
We're open and things have been busy.  Come get flies, rental boats, shuttles, ice, accessories and free coffee...Mark and I are on the river most days, but Ben, Andrew or Julie can take care of any need.  If you need a hot fishing tip, Ben and Andrew fish every day and can point you in the right direction.
-JA

June Flush?
Every year state and federal water managers try to line up a pulse of water to help downstream Sturgeon spawning and try to scour the Missouri of sediment that has built up over the last several drought years.  It looks as though they may be able to make it happen this summer.  Much of this depends on weather and the precipitation we receive from now through May.  They are shooting for a 3 day flush at 14000cfs in early June.  Will it happen?  Who knows.  If it does, we should have a week of tough fishing in June, but that should be followed by MUCH better conditions in July and August than we have had in several years.

Give us a call if you're interested in making the Missouri part of your itinerary this summer, or if you have some questions about fishing in the area.   Contact John:  fallsoutfitters@yahoo.com or 1-866-727-2087, 406-868-1951(cell). 

-JA