Welcome to the Monday morning rambling report from CrossCurrents Fly Shop in beautiful central Montana. Every Monday we will be coming to you live with some of the latest and greatest from around our area.
Fishing Report:
The MO is fishing quite well for this time of year. Lower than average flows are the ticket to off the charts fishing. The Dearborn is pumping some color into the lower river, but those who dare to fish in the color are doing quite well. Since most fear the color of the lower sections, the upper river is really busy.
Caddis are making their way upstream and some are getting fish on top with their favorite Caddis patterns. BWO’s are fading as we head into one of our favorite summer hatches of PMD’s. Midges are still in effect, don’t forget about these little fellas.
Area freestones are fishing well, everything is flowing lower than average with our lack of snowpack. The recent rains have put some color into the streams. However, its nothing to shy away from.
The streamer fishing has been great with the stained water, as well as nymphing with worms and big rubber legs. Speaking of big rubber legs, fish them tight to the bank as our major stonefly hatches are just around the corner. It has even started on a few of the streams.
Tip of The Week:
Nymphing on The MO. Sometimes its as easy as dropping a SJ worm and fire bead near the bottom, other times it can get a little tricky. When the fish aren’t climbing on your line one of the first things to evaluate is the drift. You have to get a good drift, almost always. Something that is often overlooked by the nymph fisherman is the weight of their rig. That big ol’ hunk of lead is most defiantly effecting the drift.
If you are fishing familiar waters where you know fish hold and know you are fishing a fly, or flies, that are working try changing the weight. Add a little more, take a little off, spread it out further from your flies, put it between your two flies, or even take it off completely. Usually, the less weight the better the drift. A great option on The MO is to integrate your weight into the flies. Get that extra hunk of lead off your leader to keep the casting easier and the drift better. The wire worm or a number 12 tungsten Czech nymph are enough to get your flies down for deep nymphing in these flows. A smaller tungsten bead fly is all you need for short leash nymph rigs.
That is all for now, see you next week.
