Missouri River Report 9.19.19
A short while ago, I fished my way into the middle of a manhunt. Today, I have another story to share in conjunction with my fishing report. This report features a banana. Not a day goes by in the shop without someone asking me what the deal with bananas is. Here’s my report. You be the judge regarding the deal with foul, insidious, ill tempered, evil, and sinister monkey pickles. I prefer not to call them by name.
If you're wondering about the manhunt, check out Fred's tale here
The Bad Omen
I recently pulled my big Willie boat out of the weeds. Sadly, he’s been dormant for a while. I really don’t need a 20’ aluminum monster for the typical 2 person trip on the Missouri River, but when I get a request for a three angler trip, it’s time to put him to work.
I met my three fly fishing ladies up in Craig. One was holding a banana. She was smiling. I immediately got that sinking feeling of impending doom. Fearing the damage was already done, I said, "It’s great to meet you all. Just so you know, I’m a no bananas guy. You are welcome to go eat that now or leave it in the car, but I would prefer it not come on the boat." They laughed and went to wader up.
Strike One
I turned around to load up my boat and noticed my oars were gone. If you’ve ever heard Howler Monkeys, that’s the sound that was bouncing around in my skull. I took a deep breath and tuned out the howlers. I borrowed some 9’ oars from my buddy, Brian Neilsen’s boat and made the best of it.
When we got to the river, I pulled out four rods rigged and ready for battle. Two of the ladies were thrilled to fish my Sage rods. Banana Lady had her own. We took some time to rig her up and then got on with the drift.
Strike Two
It was quickly apparent that BL’s rod was having some issues. On inspection, it was noted that the insert from the stripping guide was missing. This was not helping her cast or treating her brand new fly line well. We pulled over, broke that rod down and set up her second rod. This took about 15 min of prime bite time, but had to be done.
Back on the drift, she was still having trouble casting. I think the rod was underlined, but it got worse. It should be noted that by this time, both her friends had each hooked several fish using my tackle. After a bit of coaching and pep talking, we got set up in the prime slot of a prime row around and began our drift. BL made a cast and something went terribly wrong. 30’ of fly line sailed out beautifully, detached from her reel. I don’t know how a brand new fly line just breaks on a cast, but it did. Could it have been related to the guide malfunction? Was it stepped on by a cleated boot? Was it banana discharge? In any event, we had to chase it down to retrieve the remains. That took me downriver about a quarter mile. I had to walk the boat back up to get another shot at the good run. Then we had to rig up with another reel.
Strike Three
I was in the midst of salvaging the leader and indicator from the broken fly line when the other end got pulled. The result was a double nymph rig embedded in the palm of my hand. The howlers were back. Good thing I had forceps.
After getting the hooks out of my palm and tuning out the howlers, I re-rigged for the third time. We got back on the drift and BL finally landed her first fish. Of course, her friends soon had a double.
Fishing Without Bananas
It should not be that hard my fly fishing friends. Just leave the monkey pickle at home. Rig up with a 7.5’ 3X leader. Add some 4X Fluoro and tie on your favorite Scudly Sow pattern or some other attractive nymph. Follow that up with some 5X Fluoro and tie on a Tufted Zebra. Then go hook a bunch of fish.
Other options include streamers. Streamer fishing has been really, really good on some recent days. Water temps have dropped a few degrees. That puts the browns on the aggressive pre-spawn bite. The rainbows are chomping too.
Curious about how the river is doing? Check out current river flows here
The little olives that are often referred to as pseudos’ are hatching. Some are getting after it with dries. Others are sticking with the tiny nymphs. Emergers can be the ticket if you hit a good hatch.
Some Caddis are about and there are a few larger mayflies out there. Party on Top Caddis, Purple Haze or a good old Para Adams are worth a float. An ant is never a bad idea either. Terrestrials can still draw attention.
Need to stock up on flies? Check out our fly selection here
It’s getting on to wader season again and I’m ready. Clouds and cool temps mean hot fishing. If you are not ready for the change, come in for some great close out deals on Simms summer shirts. If you need to get ready for the change, we are stocked with waders, wading boots and the layers you will need to enjoy your time on the water for the next 8 months.
If you see someone out with a set of 10' Sawyer MSX-G oars featuring Shoal-Cut blades and Derek DeYoung rainbow trout wraps, please let me know. The blades are almost new. The shafts have logged over 14,000 hours of Alaska river time. I’d really like them back.