As in years past, my father and I traveled almost 600 miles into Montana for a few days of fishing. Along the way we stopped at Rock Creek for a couple of days of little fish, but the upper Missouri River was our primary destination and home of big fish. We arrived mid day, got settled in the Trout Shop Lodge in Craig before heading downstream looking for a place to fish.
The Missouri River, even way upstream near Helena, is a big river. So big you can only wade fish parts of it. We scouted about 10 miles downstream before deciding on a spot where the huge river braided making it a couple of parallel, smaller rivers. Even these "smaller" rivers are still pretty big with deep holes so careful wading was important.
We had the best luck going to the downstream ends of the islands and walking the sand bars until it was too deep to continue. All along the way we cast nymphs across the current. Although I'd hoped for some dry fly action, we did pretty well under the surface. No big monsters, but not the small fish we were catching the past couple of days on Rock Creek or that we were used to in Western Washington.
Pro-tip: Remember that although you might be able to stand in the current when the water's almost at the top of your chest waders you may not be able to walk back upstream. I'm not saying I went too deep, but... yeah.
Quick plug for Izaak's Restaurant in Craig and a warning. The food is excellent and the atmosphere is exactly what you need after an evening on the river. The warning: No food on Mondays. Anywhere. In Craig, Mondays are for fishing, not eating. (We had to drive 20 miles to the neighboring town of Cascade to get dinner our second night.)
Before we got to dinner on our second day we fished. As in previous years we floated from Holter Dam downstream with Tim Plaska. Drifting a river with a guide is a completely different experience compared to wading by yourself. We covered perhaps a few hundred feet of the river on foot, but we would fish more than eight miles from the boat. Granted, we passed by many spots that looked great to me, but that's the value of having a guide.
Good guides know where to row with the current and where to pull over to spend time stalking a good hole. A good guide knows where the fish are likely to be biting and, more importantly, when they will be biting. This spot? It's good in the afternoon, but this spot will be good NOW! An excellent guide will get you into the fish, bring a super tasty meal, and know where to stop for the best peace and quiet.
While years past were so fishy our arms were tired by the end of the day it was a lot slower this time around. We still had blue skies, but the fish just weren't biting. To be clear, we still had more than 30 chances at fish, some of them really nice. It's just that the Missouri has been good to us in the past and we're spoiled. On the upside, we found no snakes lying in wait on the shore when we were wading.
Some think driving for 20 hours is too much for a few days of fishing. To those people I say, "Well, yeah, maybe." But come on, this is Montana and the Missouri River. And more importantly it's a family tradition.
