There are a bevy of skilled guides and several very strong shops serving fly fishers targeting the Missouri River in Montana.
Everybody has their favorite(s); we try to follow them all as every group tends to have particular strengths and viewpoints that resonate. Of late Mark Raisler and John Arnold, the almost ‘odd couple’ pair of honchos running Headhunters, have been knocking it out of the park with a series of nifty blog posts.
Not every shop out there is willing to share the nitty gritty without some sort of quid pro quo (you buy some stuff and we’ll tell you some stuff); not every shop is interested in being honest about crowds, weather, flows, etc. We like teams who tell it like it is.
Mark and John shared some great stuff this past week or so, some of it brutally honest and it likely sent some fishers packing for other waters; it does sound like the crowds have been punishing of late.
Four posts you don’t want to miss –
- 21 July Fishing Report with 5 Tips from Mark (There are actually six, and they all play)
- Trico Swarm
- Crowds. Your Choice. (John’s brutally honest appraisal of crowds on the Missouri. A must read.)
- Squeeky’s Top 5 Don’ts of July (For the dry fly guys; all good, note #4 in particular)
Now that you’re visualizing Trico columns lining every bend of shoreline, here’s a little short we did a few months back that was shot during a week on the Mo’ in July; throwing it up again just for the impressive morning Trico’s and Caddis in the evenings. Hot damn.
4 Months from Dry Fly Media on Vimeo.
