June 15, 2021
The Missouri River has been running low and steady for the better part of a week with flows anywhere between 3300 to 3700 CFS and super good visibility all the way down to Cascade. The nymph fishing has been active and mostly consistent, and while PMDs are starting to hatch here and there, dry fly anglers are still waiting for the trout to start looking up, which is expected any day. Bright and sunny conditions and high daytime temps (over 95 degrees) have lead to some slow afternoons, but anglers have compensated by getting out on the water a little earlier in the morning. With the sun not setting until after 9 pm, a few guests are also going out after dinner to try their luck in the evening right in front of the Ranch on our 1-mile of private Missouri River front. The trout have not been overly selective, and taking a wide variety of flies, with top patterns being wire worms, soft hackle sow bugs, gold frenchys, and sparkle pmd nymphs (to name a few). A few of the guides have also been running the "Yellowstone" rig, with a crawdad pattern on top and size 16 or 18 pmd for a dropper. These rigs fish very well in deep water with a slight swing and several 20+ Rainbows and Browns have been caught & released. The current heatwave is expected to pass in a couple of days and daytime temps will be back in the high 70's. The PMD hatch should be in full swing at about the same time, and anglers will surely be out there to take advantage. One final note, is that with river flows at historic lows, the trout have fewer places to hold making them more accessible. With more pressure on the fish, anglers are taking extra measures to handle their catch carefully, and properly release the fish to keep stress to a minimum. Please drop us a line and we hope to see you soon!
Missouri River Ranch
406-206-6989
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