On April 2nd, I was supposed to be launching a raft on the fabled Smith River for a 4 day float with my good friend, Mike. With low flows and no chance of a low elevation snow pack melt, the trip was cancelled last minute. Neither of us felt that dragging a raft for 50 miles sounded very appealing. We both already had the time off approved with our respective jobs and wanted to fish.
The Missouri was the first place that came to mind to spend 4 days. As many of you know, the Mighty Mo is known for its high number of fish and the high possibility for lights out nymph fishing in the Spring. This is what we wanted to experience.
My good friend Ken (whose blog handle is flyonlymt on ChiWulff) lives right down the street from me. After a quick stop at his house, I had a handful of flies to replicate and pretty specific instructions for where we needed to spend our four days. After speaking with Ken, I was smiling ear to ear and couldn’t wait for this trip to get started!!
We made the somewhat short drive from Bozeman to our campground and a pit stop was needed at Headhunters for a couple last minute supplies.
After following Ken’s explicit instructions on where we needed to go, Mike and I arrived at a perfect looking nymphing run. Rods were rigged, the “money” flies were tied on we packed our bags. I think it took under 5 minutes for me to hook into the first fish and for Mike, it didn’t take much longer. For three hours, we laughed, giggled like kids in a candy store and caught the feistiest fish either of us have ever landed on a fly rod! And to think this was only our first day!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were similar to Thursday. Add in some extra clouds and a bit more wind though. No one was still on the river and the fishing you ask? The fishing was amazing!
Spending four days on world class water is something that all fisherman want to do. No matter where you live, species you target and how you target them. Whether it’s the White River in Arkansas, Henry’s Fork in Idaho or a salt flat in the Bahamas. After this trip, I’ll be taking more time off and exploring the world class water I have in my own backyard! Hell, I still haven’t fished the Big Hole, Big Horn, Slough Creek or the Bitterroot! Looks like a busy summer is ahead of me!
