There are lots of great rods, fly lines, reels, flies, insert product here, leaders on the market. Lots of great stuff. Lots and lots. But, the greatest new rod SAGE ONE!! on the market will not help you if you do not know how to use your tool.

The bottom line is just this…“You need to practice to get better. Daily, weekly, monthly.” Whatever you frequency is, it does not matter, but you need to cast more if you want to catch more fish.

The easy route is to take a few lessons every year to get right with you stroke. Cheap and easy these casting lessons, a short 30mins in the spring, are and the improvements will be obvious and measurable.

That guy that catches those difficult situation fish, you know that guy. He casts better than most. Really. Honest.

The best tool in your personal quiver is you, the human. You. You are the moldable and teachable being. You cannot teach that kick ass fly rod of your to cast better. It does what you tell it too. Just like a computer, almost a good analogy, it does only what you tell it to do. You control the knobs on this deal man. It is you, you are the best too.

So, tune that tool up and get on it. Practice a few times before you get on the water and you too will see the difference. Those who catch the most fish cast the best. Or have talent. But, for us who have smaller quotients of talent, we need to toss that fly flicker in the back yard once and while. At the local pond with a friend.

So, watch a couple videos, go casting with a local expert or instructor. Find a mentor and cling to him like a crazy ass girlfriend squeezing out his knowledge and holding on to it.

Practice practice, practice. That is how you improve.

Or, just go fishing more often. That is really the best advice…but if that is not an option, just cast more. You will see the results this year.

Honest. Trust me, I’m a guide…

The water temps are at 51F and rising today to 53F. We need somewhere int he neighborhood of 56+ for th ePMD’s to come in big numbers. The Yellow Sallies will be showing soon downriver as well and the caddis…well, while generally hardy, they are a fickle bunch too as of late.

The flows are a up a touch at 4800 cfs and we should expect them to possibly rise a little more later with this late rain and snow. A little, but not much at all. I do not think we will have any runoff int he future. Really. It may just stay at this level for the remainder of the season…

So, we are on hold. You can scrounge up a few on a dry in the afternoons with some real fine fish rising. Stop if you see them and do not assume that they will be rising bank to bank around the next corner.

Weather for Craig, MT

Today	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Partly Cloudy 66°/43°	Partly Cloudy 72°/46°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 73°/50°	Partly Cloudy 81°/52°	Mostly Cloudy 66°/39°

Not many folks around and you can find a good section of solace if you play your drift boat card right. The Missouri RIver is a great resource that can actually handle a lot of pressure. With 35 miles of water, you can really spread out. Many lanes throughout the river column as well gives us a plethora of lane choices. Good stuff man.

For the nymph gang the Micro-May and all it’s knock offs are working well. For a good secret fly,m try the Peep Show. It is a swesome.

Czech’s and caddis pupa seem to rule the lead fly role while depending on the run you are fishing anything from a Yellow Sally dropper, another caddis fly, a PMD, BWO, or a dangly little leech may be the ticket. BE creative and if the fly does not work, change it like a bad haircut!

Dry flies are your personal choice. They will also eat a number of flies. Get ‘em close and hold on. THe best method for picking a fly, is to watch the fish feed and educate yourself. Is he moving for the fly? Is he actually taking it subsurface? Are there spinners on the water? Is that skittering caddis a player?

Thanks for reading this transparent and constantly updated fishing report for m your friends on the Mo, Headhunters Fly Shop and Guide Service. Call us if you need lodging or a fantastic guide on the Mo. Our friendly and capable staff will help you in any way they can…

See you casting to rising trout on the Missouri in the near future.

Perfect for those fellers who dig long leaders and casting upstream to risin  or sipping trout ont he Mighty Mo or any other techy fishery!

Ninch, Squeeky, and newcomer to Headhunters Caleb tossed the long leader from Trout Hunter and loked it.

We threw the 14′ 5X monster with 30″ of 6X tied on the end for good measure. It worked.

Shop fly guru Ben McNinch turning over the Trout Hunter 14' Leader @ the CCC.

In a moderate 10mph breeze it will turn that fly over. Many of the anglers that purchase this kind of leader will be invariably throwing at fish upstream and this may be the answer to those difficult situations. For those who believe that the ‘down and across’ technique is a better approach, this is a good leader for that pursuit as well.

I personally do not get that worked up about long leaders, but there are many ways to skin a cat. I am a 10+ foot total kind of an angler that believes in fly first presentations work most of the time. Most.

So, I did pruchase a few of these in various 10′ and 14′ lengths for th finicky fish and situations we will encounter in this summer of the dry. Best to have as many tools in your box when approching the wily trout of the Missouri River. If they work for those damn hard fish ont he Henry’s Fork, they must be good enough for our fish here. Right?

Long butt sections allow this leader to turn over well. Short bit of tippet so tie on the appropriate amount and keep it there. There is not much on my 5X 14′ leader. It is not a leader that you can attach your CDC fly and go. You must first tippet this leader out.

The UV packaging means that when you leave it on the dashboard for a week, the integrity is not compromised.

A good leader for those who love to stalk the wily sipping trout in these lower water conditions this summer here on the Missouri.

I have used them this last week, we stock them, and they are becoming popular with our guides too.

A must have for the upstream feller who like to put the sneak on trout!

Hooray. Sun in the afternoon and many hatch related events that kept many busy with the top-water game.

Callibaetis, BWO’s, some minor hatching mayfly, Caddis…all were in the mix. Squeeky’s boat tossed big Callibaetis spinners at the rising fish and they obliged.

Speaking with Scumliner last evening about the distance and the behaviors of these fish. It reminded us of the fishing in the last decade during the drought years. You may need to stay well off of these rising fish and make that first cast count. They, the fish, will get spooked and continue to rise. Just because they do not go down,stop trising, does not mean you may still hook them. They just know you are around and will not eat the fly. Ben, Mark, and EBitty got stumped by a few last week as well. Fish still rising after repeated attempts and fly changes. Repeated I say. An hour on a fish should get some sort of response. An no response. No refusals, no takes, no nothing. So, be careful and make that first drift count.

Park at a distance and approach softly. First drifts are still king and do not fall out of style. Also remember that fish can see you and view you as a predator. Fish do not act kindly to predators.

As for the nymphers the hot flies are the Rainbow Czech, Sows, small PT stuff in all colors, Grape Slushy’s, Spicy Scuds, Arnold’s Sili-Scud, Caddis Pupa, and softies.

The streamer fishermen like small and black coupled with a shiny toy fly. Cartoon flies are alive and well, but not many bugger chuckers with the dry fly bite returning. Although, the Clouser is on fire too!

See you this week for warmer weather and better fishing on the Missouri River. We’ll be here for all you questions, needs, and shuttles, and short sleeve clothing, and flies….

Flows are holding @ 4690cfs and water temps are climbing rapidly of 2 degrees n the last 36hrs to a nice 53F.

Weather for Craig, MT

Today	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Partly Cloudy 66°/43°	Partly Cloudy 72°/46°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 73°/50°	Partly Cloudy 81°/52°	Mostly Cloudy 66°/39°