With rain and warmer weather we usually start to see Missoula fly fishing fade away until conditions lighten up. During this runoff time between May and mid June most guides in our region migrate to the Missouri River, one of the world’s best tailwater fisheries. I found myself there the first week of May, wrapping up a three day Missoula trip where we had great success on the Clark Fork before the weather changed. We spent our third and final day making an over and back trip to Wolf Creek where the boat ramp was still pretty quiet and the fishing was fantastic! Usually I prefer the first two weeks of May on the Missouri over the back end of the month as the weather is still cooler. It seems that the highlight hatch during May is the baetis which can be very prolific. During my first few trips on the Missouri River we keyed in on the short leash program running two small mayfly nymphs short under an indicator and fished shallow shelfs and swirlies. Some of our bigger fish came out of the shallow fast riffles and we witnessed some dancing trout and some nice browns. I spend my time in the 40 miles of trout fishing on the Missouri between all of the boat ramps and try not to do the same floats back to back. I am no stranger to going to the dam and floating down to Craig where majority of the big rainbow trout have positioned themselves for the spawning season. At the dam the game was a longer nymph set up with the standard bugs you always find up there along with scuds or sowbugs and a heavier weight to get it into the spot. My first half of my Missouri season was awesome, nothing but big fish and lots of numbers to satisfy clients. It seemed my last trip up there did not pan out the way the first few did. That time we found ourselves in a little bigger crowd followed with a more lackluster hatch and a grip of whitefish. We navigated the traffic and the abilites of my anglers who were not prepared for the heavy fighting, running rainbows, but after some lessons and some broken off flies we adapted and still hammered some trophy trout along with good numbers. As we approach the latter half of the month the traffic has picked up over there with the rest of our state experiencing higher water but here in Missoula I noticed things shaping up nicely to make a local play. With cooler nights and less rain I saw the Blackfoot River hit the perfect levels to make a run at it. The clarity was great and the flows were higher the way I like it. I grabbed some great anglers and hit the water on a nice cloudy day, and when the majority of my constituents were fighting for position on the Missouri we found ourselves all alone without a boat in sight, slamming some BIG fish! What I have learned in my time as a guide is to always stay nomadic, I never make SOLID plans for a river. I am willing to adapt and move, drive or chase the best scanerio for my clients. If that means driving 2 hours to catch 40 big fish then that’s what we do. If we need to cancel Missouri plans to chase smaller tributaries or a fine window of Blackfoot magic then we will do it. Lots of outfitters or guides put a wash on the month of May but if you want a chance at a trophy trout I highly recommend booking a trip in May and rolling the dice, I promise it will be an adventure and I will be reaching up my sleeve for every sneaky trick I have in my book.

May on the Missouri

Missoula fishing Still Holding Strong