John Arnold, the (insert favorite adjective here) co-impresario of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig posted the definitive “I can tell you, but then I’d have to kill you…” list of fishy and fishable creeks within a couple hour drive of Helena and the classic stretch of the Missouri we all daydream about.
Montana’s “small stream opener” falls on the 3rd Saturday in May each year. That was last Saturday, and we always hold the Craig Caddis Festival on the opener. Rain pretty much swamped most folks creek plans last weekend, but now that the smaller freestones in the area are open, it’s time to keep an eye on the USGS Gauges. As a general rule, rising is bad and dropping is good. You’ll need to know a little bit about each stream to know if the flow numbers (CFS) are good or bad, but that info is generally not hard to get.
The Dearborn and Little Prickly Pear are the most popular small streams locally. Both produce good fishing, and because Missouri River lunkers have access to these creeks, you may run into some unusually large fish. Whats the secret? The first guy to present a fly to them wins. Both of these streams are important spawning tributaries for Missouri River trout (Little Prickly Pear is most important), and you may run into some late spawners if you’re stomping around them in the next week or two. Leave them alone!
West of town…
Read it all here; image JA’s from the Headhunters blog.
