We met Joel, Corey, and Ron at the truck stop outside of Deer Lodge and then we were off to Craig to float the Missouri River.
Our first look at the Missouri River from the highway. What stunning water.
As we rolled into Craig, I realized it just might be the perfect "Trout Town". Craig is three fly shops, a couple bars, and little else besides a large trout stream in it's backyard.
We stopped in at Headhunters Fly Shop to set up shuttles and pick up a few flies.
Joel was representing T.F.M. though with constant winds and gusts to forty miles an hour there was no way I was talking him into fishing glass at all this day.
Corey's "tool box" which is filled with camera bodies, lenses, and anything else he might need to create digital art.
Gearing the boats up at the launch point. Joel, Corey, and David jumped in the drift boat, and Ron, Mike, and I were in the raft for the day.
We began the float and immediately found that the wind was going to be an issue. We spied a few risers but they were usually tucked up against the bank sipping tiny mayflies or small caddis. I ended up tying on a double soft hackle rig which was the easiest for me to cast from the back of the raft. I spent the majority of my day in a cast, swing, cast, swing motion.
The views on the Missouri River are quite stunning.
This is big water with big views and it's no surprise that there are big trout that live in here too.
A few hours into the float we met up with Joel, Corey, and David and spent an hour or so catching up and eating a makeshift lunch. We all enjoyed David recounting how he had caught a good sized brown trout on a grasshopper pattern. This was the middle of October and grasshoppers were still thick in the tall grass.
Ron took the opportunity to relax in the bottom of the raft. See that bald head? I was worried about an errant cast putting two soft hackles in that melon all day. Luckily it didn't happen.
Once we started our float again Mike picked up this beautiful rainbow on a small brown and yellow streamer slammed up against the rock wall.
As afternoon became evening the wind still hadn't died down and we were commenting that the day would have been quite different without the continual breeze and gusts. What couldn't be disputed was the vistas we enjoyed as we traveled down river.
I spent the day fishing the Hardy Classic Lightweight nine foot five weight. This is a graphite/fiberglass mix and was excellent for this float for several reasons. The Classic Lightweight is an interesting series since the rods are certainly a lot quicker than most glass but once have a wonderful feel when under weight of a fish.
I matched the Classic Lightweight fly rod with a LRH Lightweight fly reel. You've got to match a Hardy reel with a Hardy fly rod...right?
The universal reel holder hardware on the Classic Series is really sharp.
So the day ended with us all catching far less trout than expected but it was all more than made up for in comaraderie.
This final day of our trip was a great example that these trips are a success not always by the numbers of fish that are caught but by times spent with friends.
Our first look at the Missouri River from the highway. What stunning water.
As we rolled into Craig, I realized it just might be the perfect "Trout Town". Craig is three fly shops, a couple bars, and little else besides a large trout stream in it's backyard.
We stopped in at Headhunters Fly Shop to set up shuttles and pick up a few flies.
Joel was representing T.F.M. though with constant winds and gusts to forty miles an hour there was no way I was talking him into fishing glass at all this day.
Corey's "tool box" which is filled with camera bodies, lenses, and anything else he might need to create digital art.
Gearing the boats up at the launch point. Joel, Corey, and David jumped in the drift boat, and Ron, Mike, and I were in the raft for the day.
We began the float and immediately found that the wind was going to be an issue. We spied a few risers but they were usually tucked up against the bank sipping tiny mayflies or small caddis. I ended up tying on a double soft hackle rig which was the easiest for me to cast from the back of the raft. I spent the majority of my day in a cast, swing, cast, swing motion.
The views on the Missouri River are quite stunning.
This is big water with big views and it's no surprise that there are big trout that live in here too.
A few hours into the float we met up with Joel, Corey, and David and spent an hour or so catching up and eating a makeshift lunch. We all enjoyed David recounting how he had caught a good sized brown trout on a grasshopper pattern. This was the middle of October and grasshoppers were still thick in the tall grass.
Ron took the opportunity to relax in the bottom of the raft. See that bald head? I was worried about an errant cast putting two soft hackles in that melon all day. Luckily it didn't happen.
Once we started our float again Mike picked up this beautiful rainbow on a small brown and yellow streamer slammed up against the rock wall.
As afternoon became evening the wind still hadn't died down and we were commenting that the day would have been quite different without the continual breeze and gusts. What couldn't be disputed was the vistas we enjoyed as we traveled down river.
I spent the day fishing the Hardy Classic Lightweight nine foot five weight. This is a graphite/fiberglass mix and was excellent for this float for several reasons. The Classic Lightweight is an interesting series since the rods are certainly a lot quicker than most glass but once have a wonderful feel when under weight of a fish.
I matched the Classic Lightweight fly rod with a LRH Lightweight fly reel. You've got to match a Hardy reel with a Hardy fly rod...right?
The universal reel holder hardware on the Classic Series is really sharp.
So the day ended with us all catching far less trout than expected but it was all more than made up for in comaraderie.
This final day of our trip was a great example that these trips are a success not always by the numbers of fish that are caught but by times spent with friends.
2 comments:
excellent report! That darn Mo has to be one of the best pieces of water in the country,
fyi- bad guac at the resturant next to head hunters.
Great phots!
Good times Cam! Was great to meet up and do a little fishing!
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