Just got back from Monatana this morning and some of the best trout fishing i have ever experienced. More and bigger trout than i have ever seen in any river. I stayed with Joe Bloomquist at Missouri River Lodge. Top notch outfit for sure. Joe runs a great lodge and the guides working for him were great.
Friday was our first day fishing the missouri river. I had never seen it before but had hear a lot of the fish that it holds. I was in a boat with a newbie to fly fishing and not 200 yards into the float he hooks a 20+ inch brown. Probably more like 22 or 23 but we never got a better look at him than when he jumped next the boat. A lack of experience cost him that one fish, but he quickly picked it up. I on the other hand couldnt hook a fish to save my life, and went fishless all morning. Mainly nymphing san juan worms and pink scuds. I also stripped some buggers for a little bit but only turned 3 fish before lunch. After lunch there was a light hatch of BWOs and i managed to get my first brown on the surface. The rest of the day my nymphing skills improved and we ended up with 10 or 12 fish to the boat total. Not a hot day but better than some for sure, and every fish was between 17 and 21 inches. All nice big browns.
The next morning we switched boats around and there were two of us that could cast this time Where as day 1 had been sunny and warm with a little wind, day two was more overcast and really windy. we were in the canyon for the first mile of the float throwing woolly buggers off rock walls and just hammering the fish. We probably hooked 8 or 9 a piece in the first 300-400 yards of the float. It was fantastic. Again mainly browns but we also got a couple rainbows that either didnt go into the tribs to spawn or didnt spawn at all. The wind was very tough in the afternoon and our guide worked his butt off to get us down to the take out. Rowing against the wind and waves that were splashing over the bow of the boat. All the time we were picthing buggers(when safe to do so) and catching fish. It was probably blowing 30+ but it sure didnt affect the fish
I only fished a 1/2 day on day 3 and we floated the top stretch of the day 2 float. Pitching buggers again with great success. It is a lot of fun to watch the big browns explode from the rocks to hammer one of these buggers getting twitched and stripped off the shore.
The final day i fished, i went with Joe to try the waters below the dam. This is mainly a nymph show for the fish that have moved up out of the lake to spawn in behind the dam. These fish are huge. Our average fish up there was 23 inches. And we caught tons of them, including a 31" fish. This was bigger than some of the steelhead i caught this fall and on a 5 wt rod. simply amazing fishing.
Had a great time and would highly reccomend anyone to go fish the Missouri. Its a great river and has a lot of fish and a lot of bugs Joe runs a great place and it was phenomenal fishing I can't wait to go back.... I only have a couple pics but i will get them up shortly.

my redington waders were great.

Sounds like fun, except for the high winds part. That's a pretty long haul to the Mo', isn't it? How much driving, one way?

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

From B.I. it was 9hrs and 15 minutes. Stopping only for gas.
And I;d do it again for sure.

beautiful fish no doubt about it!!!

Nice report Smartie

And timely too as I'm leaving for Mt on the 18th!

Nice too hear that whooly buggers and san juan worms where the ticket as I already have a bunch of those. I would assume those would fish well thru the end of the month?

And I would also assume there still a ton of snow waiting to melt as that's my only small concern at this time?

I've never been to Mt. and can't wait to see some trout like those!

i am not too sure how the snow melt will affect the river, but i think because it is coming out of the dam that the river will remain fairly clear and almost always fishable. Joe was telling me that when it gets really muddy the bugger fishing can be fantastic.
Make sure your buggers are heavily weighted... You want to make sure they dive off the rocks and follow the contour on the bottom for about the first 10-12 feet off the bank... sometimes even less like 6'. Usually they hit it pretty quick.
good luck and take some pics.

Sounds like a fantastic trip. Another one to try if you haven't already is the South Fork of the Snake. A little longer drive (12 hours) but well worth it. I will be there in August, if not before. Thanks for sharing.

Well i just got back from the MO and trip #2 for the year out there.... it was fantastic once again. Lots of fish and quality dry fly fishing. There was a great caddis hatch and quite a few PMDs as well... Most of the mornings were spent nymphing but around 11 the hatches really kicked off and the fish became very surface oriented. My best brown of the trip was about 21 or 22. I got 3 that were all about the same size on the last day while floating and then 1 more in the last light of the day swinging a big bugger in front of the lodge.
great fun and i cant wait to get back again.

Any pictures? I just got back from Henry's fork. Great trip.