The fishing has been pretty good the last few days on our beautiful tailwater below Holter Dam. Flows this morning are at 3,200 cfs, a slight bump up from yesterday morning. Current water temps are 64F. We are going through a little warming trend as far as the weather is concerned. Highs are expected in the upper 80’s for the next few days with cooler nights and mornings in the lower 50’s. A longer forecast is saying we will cool off a bit which may help the fishing, but it may not.
Dry fly fishing has been hit or miss depending on the hatch conditions. These big Missouri River fish don’t bother to come up and seek a dry fly unless there are enough bugs to make it worth while. Trico’s are hit and miss in the morning, but it looks like they are starting to thin out in the river around Craig. You can still find a handful of fish looking for them during the spinner fall which is usually around 10 a.m. Caddis can be found in the evening and sometimes throughout the day. This year hasn’t had a prolific Caddis hatch, but the fish will eat them if there are a few around. Hopper fishing is alright in the afternoon. The fish are eating a hopper enough to make it worth while, but it isn’t the ticket to catch the most fish. Other terrestrials can be a good choice as well.
Nymphing is going well with a few less weeds in the river. Most people are having success with dropping a nymph off a hopper pattern or fishing a light nymph rig in the shallow flats and riffles. Nymphing tip of the week: forgo using split shot and use a larger czech nymph or wire worm as weight for your light nymph rigs. A small pinch on indicator is the way to go when fishing this way.
Streamers…there are a few people tossing the streamer out there. Yes, there are still a lot of weeds and it can make things difficult. The fish are eating them so if you dare to be different. Try a Wooly Bugger. Smaller #10 olive ones are working well around weed beds and bigger black ones tossed at the bank work too. Check out this VIDEO of Chris demonstrating how to tie a B/H Wooly Bugger.
