The fishing is great and the scenery is spectacular. There's not much more to ask for when we fished the Missouri River in Craig, Montana, with Big Sky Anglers. Guides Joe Moore and Greg Falls really know how to handle their drift boats and they put us onto some quality fish every day for five days.
You can get lost just watching the countryside roll by as you drift down the Missouri River. There's lots of wildlife to gawk at like deer, antelope, ducks, geese, beaver, muskrat, eagles, osprey, pelicans and other anglers.
We did a lot of our drift fishing below the town of Craig and while fishing a quiet inlet Drew hooked up with a MONSTER brown but it broke off just inches from the net. Our guide Joe estimates it was at least 24-inches. It was one of the largest I've seen. All I heard was Drew saying, "I got it", and glanced over to see this huge fish somersaulting out of the water. The splash when it fell back was like someone dropping a bowling ball into the water. After the fish broke off we stood there, stunned.
The Missouri River trout are strong and very acrobatic. When they feel the hook you'll see your fish go airborne, doing somersaults or launching itself out of the water like a missle. We probably
landed only 50 percent of the
fish we hooked and several fish got off by
straightening the hook. When there's a take, you must
haul back and really set the hook because you're
fishing a fly with a size 16 or 18 nymph as a dropper
and usually the fish is taking the dropper so you've
got to set hard.
Although the conditions weren't perfect, we did manage to squeeze in some dry fly fishing in locations where we saw fish rising and where the wind wasn't blowing too hard. Tom stalked this
rising rainbow and was
rewarded with a solid hookup. We did wade and stalk
trout whenever possible but it was easier to maneuver
into position and fish from the boat during most
attempts because the river bottom was usually too deep
in most spots.
Tom caught what turned out to be the biggest fish of the trip while we were fishing a drop-off near an island. He had already caught a smaller brown and rainbow when this fish hit. Joe and I were in the boat and we had just finished recapping the huge brown trout Drew hooked and lost in this spot two days ago. When Tom said he thought this fish was big, Joe and I had the same thought. The fish was pulling line and you could hear Tom's drag sing. He played it up close to the bank and got it to swim over the net that Joe had resting on the bottom of the river. It measured out to be 22-inches.
Joe recommends bringing a selection of rods when you fish the Missouri River. A five and six weight rods are essential and sometimes even a seven weight is needed to deal with the high
winds. I used a Winston LT
five-piece six weight rod for most of the trip paired
with a Tibor Tail Water reel lined with Scientific
Anglers Trout WF-6. I used Joe's Winston five weight
IM-6 for some dry fly fishing when we had the
opportunity. Others in my party used Sage and Orvis
rods in various weights to fish indicators, streamers
and dries.
A good selection of clothing is also essential. The weather (at this time of year) can fluctuate wildly. It was in the low 40's in the morning but by afternoon you had to peel down to shirtsleeves. Rain would also blow in unexpectedly so you must carry good, waterproof raingear. I packed a jacket, a fleece vest and an extra shirt into a Simms dry backpack. It's water resistant so it keeps your stuff dry in the boat.