Missouri River Questions

[Bose Knows]

I'm heading for the annual trout week in a couple weeks. Hitting the "mighty Mo" at the Houlter Dam. Got a drift boat lined up and a bunch of trico's any suggestions on productive techniques or accomadations, bars, camping spots ect. Thanks.

[JayB]

Most of the Montana fisherman access points have camping. The little campground at Craig looks especially nice. There is also an RV place in Craig with hookup. Further up towards the dam there is a more open campground at Wolf Creek, and a forest service campground closer to the dam up the access road.

We have been in a major drought, and heat wave, but last week we started getting severe thoundershowers. Many of the rivers are way up in temperature and down in flow, but that section has been ok.

[JayB]

Go away for a little while and 3000 odd posts disappear, guess i am a newby again.

[Capt. Slayer]

I’ve fished the Missouri on 10 different trips over the years and can give you a few tips.

On the early trips, my buddies and I always camped, usually in Craig but also at a couple of fishing access areas farther downstream when Craig was too crowded. One area I always enjoyed was the second Dearborn access (the one that’s a sharp left turn after you cross under the interstate several miles downstream from Craig). One time, we camped on an island; as you drive downstream from Craig (below Dearborn, I think), you’ll see a slight pull-off on the left that overlooks a channel separating an uninhabited island from the shore. We had float tubes and ferried our camping gear across and made camp on the river side of the island where we were hidden from view from the road. No one bothered us, and the fish were rising at first light right outside the tent. Oh yeah, and I remember flushing a hen pheasant outside the tent, too (I’ve been told that you can go pheasant hunting on the islands in the fall when you’re not chasing spawning browns).

On the last couple of trips, we stayed in the cabins at Montana River Outfitters in Wolf Creek (http://www.montanariveroutfitters.com/fishing.phtml?page=Missouri). They were comfortable and not too expensive. We always had our vehicle shuttled by MRO, so staying there made arranging for the shuttle even more convenient.

I have only fished the Missouri from a float tube, and in my mind, that is the only way to do it. The float tube gives you better maneuverability than a drift boat. It’s at its best when you come upon a gulper tight against the bank; in a float tube, you can stop quickly (usually by just standing up) and then fish to the riser. I’m not sure what you’d do in a drift boat and whether it could stop in time or stop quietly enough to avoid spooking the fish. I’m not sure of the current regulations that cover floating a river in a float tube and whether you need a PFD or not; things may have changed since I last floated the river a couple years ago, and this may now be required.

My fondest memories are getting on the water in my float tube at first light at the Wolf Creek bridge, floating downstream a half mile, and immediately finding gulpers tight against the willows taking tricos in the foam scum lines. On a couple of occasions, I was able to get within 15 feet of them and then fished to them for a half hour or so. When they’re feeding, they rarely stop. I eventually caught a couple of them, after many casts, on the smallest flies I had. They were always nice rainbows in the 16- to 20-inch range.

Our typical day would be to put in at Wolf Creek (in float tubes) at first light, float to Craig, go find lunch there, get back in the water, and float to Dearborn where our cars were waiting. This will take you all day; sometimes, we didn’t get off the water until near midnight. I actually prefer the Wolf Creek to Craig stretch – more gulpers. Below Craig, there are more deep sections that don’t lend themselves to trico gulpers. There are also more browns. A second option is to fish Wolf Creek to Craig in the morning, take a break, and go float it again in the afternoon/evening. The year we camped on the island, we put in at Wolf Creek and floated to the island on the first day. The second day, we put in from the island and floated all the way down to Osterman’s Missouri Inn, another all-day float downstream. Having floated those 20 miles of river (more or less?), I’d still rate Wolf Creek to Craig as the best stretch on the whole river for the kind of fishing I like to do — trico gulpers when they’re available, hoppers in the afternoon, and caddis/PMDs in the evening. The farther down river you go, the fewer people you see, though.

Here are a couple of other observations:

- The first time I fished the river, I had a hard time locating gulpers until my buddy finally showed me how subtle the riseform is. It's often no more of a disturbance than what a small raindrop makes when it hits the water. After that brief lesson, I was much more observant of any water that looked nervous, and I soon found many gulpers. It's not the classic head-and-tail rise. It's among the most subtle things in trout fishing.

- I often fished droppers, especially after the morning trico spinner fall. In the evening, I would often have a small X-caddis in a 20 or 22 with an emerger dropper those sizes or smaller. In the afternoon when hopper fishing, I’d often put a small emerger off the hopper.

- Some stretches of river that go by rocky banks and the railroad tracks have extremely large hoppers on shore that you have to see to believe.

- The Missouri is one of the few places I have fished where I felt the need to use 7X tippets. This is necessary for the trico gulpers. I’ve landed 20-inch rainbows on 7X, too; you just have to be a little more careful.

- On some nights, the fish will take caddis until midnight and beyond. I recall one night getting to the railroad trestle where the Dearborn River hits the Missouri late in the evening (10 pm?) and fishing there for another two hours until we decided that we had to get off the water, not because the fish were done. The fish were taking the smallest adult caddis patterns I had, even in the dark (there was plenty of moonlight that night, though).

- Don’t ever go down the channel that starts about a half mile above Craig on the opposite bank. Some “fisherman” told me that the fishing was great back there, and I decided to give it a try. There was hardly any current in there to move my float tube along, it was about a foot deep in places, and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. I now refer to that as “skeeter channel.”

- We always had a hard time finding places to eat that were open when we got off the water late. Usually there was something in Craig, but restaurants there come and go, and I haven’t been back in a couple of years, so I don’t know the current situation. The bar/cafe in Wolf Creek (go under the highway overpass to get to “downtown” Wolf Creek) tended to be open later and had a lot of non-fishermen locals in it for a more authentic experience (they also have a broasted potoato they call “jojo” that is pretty good). For other dining options, you can go up to the café above Holter Dam on the lake, and you can go downstream to Osterman’s Missouri Inn (just don’t order the salmon; I thought it would be fresh but it was canned – I was horrified).

- If you have afternoon river closures due to heat like we did one year, you can drive the hour to Great Falls to visit the Lewis & Clark Museum and the Charlie Russell Museum (if you like cowboy paintings).

- From Wolf Creek, you're not too far from Lincoln and Ovando, where the Blackfoot River flows. It's a pretty freestone stream that's worth fishing if for no other reason than "the book." Also, they caught the Unabomber in his little cabin over there (Lincoln) 10 years ago.

- Finally, if you’re sick of the Missouri, there’s a charming little stream called Belt Creek about an hour or so away. If I remember correctly, it follows U.S. 89 as you head south, a little bit east of Great Falls (it’s on the way back to Livingston). As you climb in elevation, you enter national forest, and Belt Creek is full of cutt-bows in a beautiful small-stream setting. It’s easy attractor fishing that can soothe you if you’ve been brutalized by the Mo’.

I hope that helps. Please post a report and pics if you can as I'd love to hear how the big river has been fishing.

--Slayer

[Bose Knows]

Thanks for the tips that will definatly help. I'm fishing with an old college buddy who used to guide at TroutHunter on the H-Fork. I lived in Island Park for 3 summers working at Henrys Lake Sate Park and fine tuning my fly fishing on the Ranch section in the evenings. I live in VA mostly fishing salt but i gotta have my trout. Cant wait to get to the MO probally fish Rock Creek as we will be in Missoula towards the end of the trip. Hopefully it is not to warm. Fish Creek is supposed "to be on fire" ouitside of Missoula. Not buring but fishing great! Fish on buddy!