Missouri River Fishing Report 1/17

I returned from the Missouri River yesterday. Despite forecasted gusts of 30 mph, the wind was never much of an issue. I've fished in much worse and the fact of the matter is that if you want to be a good Missouri River angler, you've got to be able to fish with the wind. John Arnold from Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig, MT, recently blogged this great guide to fly fishing in the wind. It is definitely worthwhile reading and will help you plan your next windy day wade/float more effectively.

Bobber fishing was the name of the game on Wednesday. Most of the fish I caught were on the bottom in waist deep, slower water. Pink and rainbow Czechs/scuds with firebeads took the most fish. Scud body color seemed to make little difference with fish hitting pink and rainbow with equal frequency. The largest trout of the trip, a fat rainbow around five pounds hit a pink soft-hackle Ray Charles with a firebead. Smaller flies (around size 16) seemed to work better than larger patterns. While talking with John at Headhunters, I also learned that there are rainbows in the river that have a fall spawning schedule. This means that there are eggs in the water column from browns, rainbows, and whitefish throughout the winter months.

If you're thinking: fall spawning rainbows?!? What's he talking about?  Here's the deal: Holter Lake is stocked with two strains of rainbow trout by Montana FWP. The two strains are the Eagle Lake and the Arlee strains. The two strains are often indistinguishable by sight. The Eagle Lake rainbows spawn in the spring. The Arlee rainbows spawn in the fall. The Eagle Lake rainbows are stocked into Holter during the fall. The Arlee rainbows are stocked into Holter during the spring. Both strains are stocked at a size of 6-8 inches so that they are less likely to become food for walleyes. Eagle Lake rainbows are more piscivorous and Arlee rainbows eat more insects and crustaceans. If you want to read the original article about these two strains you can find it on FWP's webpage here.

So what's the significance of this information? Well, it might help explain why pink flies and firebeads work so well in the winter. Sure, your fly might be designed to imitate a scud, but the orange firebead on it is probably perceived as "egg" by the fish. That's not to say that scuds aren't an important part of the fish's diet during the winter. Scuds and sowbugs are abundant in the river and patterns imitating these crustaceans in muted tans and greys without beads will still take their share of fish.

Next week, I should be returning to the river with a couple of buddies. The only question is: Should we feel guilty for fishing the eggs firebeads???