Montana, Missouri River: Picky & Hard Fighting Trout

by | Fresh Water

Montana Video

We were psyched to get to Montana, finally. This was a fly fishing trip that took 6 months to plan and was revised several times due to budgetary and/or time frame reasons. Originally we were 3 but we ended up as 2 fly fishing travelers and we departed the Albany, NY Airport at 7am. We would travel most of the day and arrive at the Missouri River in the evening. The first day was a blur and we couldn’t believe the magnificent scenery. We fished on foot that first night and were rewarded with some small trout but we would find out that the Missouri River trout earn their reputation of being very picky when it comes to the dry fly and they are hard fighters. We saw our backing many times and hooked many more trout than were landed. We spent 2 days on the famed Missouri River, loving every minute of it. The scenery looked as though it were painted on canvas with a brush and the trout were mystical and everything we hoped they would be. In the morning, we had trico hatches and in the afternoons caddis hatches and each hatch was heavy. Through the downtimes, we nymphed and our biggest fish were caught during the nyphing periods. Some of the guides threw hopper patterns and caught fish but we did not try this techniques. This segment is the first 3 days of our Montana fly fishing trip and represents the largest trout we would catch in our travels.

6 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    good stuff shaq … that water does look amazing and you got some killer shots both above and below water. i could relate to the opening shot when your buddy is all amped up on day 1 of the trip .. sometimes the anticipation and that initial day of the trip is the most fun, just total fish junkie adrenaline pumping through the veins … sounds and looks like the missouri treated you guys well .. what kind of nymph patterns were you nymphing with?

  2. Shaq on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Thanks, It was quite a quest for us.

    Most of the nymphs we used on the Mo were small, 18-22 RS2’s, Lemon Drops, serendipities, basically thread tied on a scud hook. Yellow/light olive the best.

  3. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    i hear ya … “thread tied on a hook” .. till this day, it still amazes me to see the big fish that are caught out there on super super small stuff … sometimes size 18 out there is just too big … thanks.

  4. jinxed247 on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Awesome video and great fish! You guys sure did seem to dial in on them great job and I am sure that your months of preperation paid off well.

  5. MarshallD on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Gorgeous fishing…great job on the video! I’ve fished there near Wolf Creek 3 times and seeing you guys I felt I was along with you. Love the shot of the rising Trout rings. Can’t wait for the next installment!

  6. waterwhippa on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    What a great trip! Glad everything panned out for you guys. You got some great shots and nice fish.