It’s the middle of March and it appears that temperatures are on the rise, and the fishing on the MO is starting to heat up. Whether you are wade fishing or float fishing, there are opportunities all over the river. For nymph fishing, keep with the typical winters colors of pink and orange. Firebeads and pink flies in size 14 remain excellent top fly patterns, while pink lightning bugs, zebra midges, and red san juan worms are on fire as bottom flies. Keep targeting the deeper slower water, but watch the shallows as fish are moving in there this time of year. If your drift is going so slow you think you may be fishing on a lake, then you’re probably in the right spot. Those deeper slower areas are holding high numbers of fish and it’s possible to hook up on every pass through the area.

If streamers are more your style, keep throwing kreelex patterns in a variety of colors, sparkle minnows have been pretty solid as well. It seems like there are moments when the streamer bite is really on, but there are still those moments of no action at all. Be patient and keep swinging and stripping, the wait will be worth it.

As the water temperature rises, we will continue to see more and more midge activity on the surface. There are times when the conditions all align and rising fish are being spotted. Target the side channels, they tend to have calmer winds and more concentrations of bugs. Midge clusters and Buzzballs are a good goto when you see a nose rising this time of year!

Just keep getting out there! The weather is getting better and the fish are eating well!