smith river

If you’ve been waiting for the waters to drop, wait no more.  All local streams and rivers are fishable, and the Missouri River is in great shape. Happy 4th of July! Current Conditions Missouri River below Holter Dam - The Missouri River is below 5K cfs and lots of wading opportunities are available.  Pmds and caddis are hatching daily along with yellow sally’s, callibaetis, and a few brown drakes.  Nymphing remains best in the morning.  Pmd spinner falls also bring fish to the top in the morning.  Afternoons are generally best with dries or dry dropper rigs.  If you fish to rising fish, respect their wary natures.  They will not suffer poor casts or splashing anchors and oars. Creeks and Smaller Rivers, Belt Creek near Monarch, MT - The hardest thing about the current con...

PMD Mayflies and caddis are hatching big time on the Missouri River.  There are some larger drakes and a few salmon flies on the freestone streams.  Now is the time to take your vacation or call in sick or be retired and fish every single day. Current Conditions Missouri River below Holter Dam - Flows have dropped to the mid 5K range.  Easy wading opportunities abound.  While everyone’s take and experiences are different, the volume of bugs and the dry fly fishing has been nothing short of epic over the past week. The PMD hatches have come later in the season and thus the density of bugs has been compressed into a smaller window.  They have been hatching in big numbers lately from mid-morning all the way until dinner time.  On top of that, the caddis are out in big numbers too. Nymphing r...