The dry-fly enthusiast or nymph fisher's dream-river, the Missouri offers both personalities the chance to test their casting and fish fighting proficiency! Called the "World’s Largest Spring Creek" by many, the aquatic life on the Missouri is nothing short of amazing!
   The "Mo" has fifty river miles of well-populated trout water, and a river that boasts banks so far apart we often use binoculars to view the wildlife on the opposing shore. We concentrate chiefly on the upper half of this massive watershed in early spring, and when runoff hits the Missoula area. This big water is primarily a nymph fishing show, but as spring gives way to warmer temperatures, the blue wing olives, and caddis tempt the dry fly angler away from the nymph rigs. We usually holler, "off with his head!" as we chop off our strike indicators, and attach our dry fly leader of choice.

  If you were sitting on the Missouri’s banks in the upper half of the system near Holter dam in July, you might see the sky darken on you in the early morning, as clouds of tricos rise from the edges and fill the sky! Pods of fish that number in the HUNDREDS, rise and circle, rise and circle. Timing is everything here, and such numbers of fish and aquatic insects are truly a sight to behold. When you hook up, hold on and grab a snickers bar, because..."It's gonna be a while!" East of the divide, the Missouri river rainbow’s fighting ability is unrivaled.
    Hopper fishing the mid-summer months can be fun, but without the prolific hatches to bank on, and the good chance we might want a "sail" on our boats this time of year, we usually stay on our waters closer to Missoula during this part of our season, but we thoroughly enjoy a trip over upon request.
  It's around a two hour trip over to the Missouri, so we like to try and plan on two or three day trips here. We either stay in Helena, or in one of several cabins and other lodging facilities near the river. It's completely doable to just do a single day over here, but that single day is a long one.