The spots on the 18" rainbow that I caught at spot five quickly ended up back in the river after he wiggled free before I could take his pic.
There were several other spots caught in the spots above, and there were a couple other spots that gave up some spots.
When all was said and done, after five hours on a beautiful little river a warm spring day, had about twelve in hand out of sixteen hooked, mostly bows with the one cutt and a couple browns.
Saw the most prolific March Brown hatch I have seen anywhere, and one of the better mayfly hatches I have seen, period. But only one fish up. Thinking I need to have some nymphs, wets, and dries for that hatch the next time I head that way.
… it’s not about promoting Montana and / or Idaho, it’s about promoting fly angling.
… it’s not about the where, it’s about the why.
… it’s not for the people here or who can come here, it’s for the people who will never have the chance to see or fish this part of the Intermountain West, and those who have visited but can only return in their memories.
…it’s not for local commerce and tourism, it’s for FAOL and making it a more attractive place to visit.
I have always wanted to fish the waters you visit… maybe one day I will maybe not, but I can on here thanks to your reports, they also inspire me as well …
… in the Wolf Creek / Craig area provided some outstanding spots yesterday.
Those three pix form a panorama from the left swinging right, from the spot I caught these spots.
The background in another spot was also pretty neat.
But the spots were a bit smaller.
This was the first time I’ve fished the Missouri. It is a loooooonnnnng roundtrip from this part of the state, at least as a day trip. And I probably won’t fish there again unless I am in the area or make it an overnight trip.
But it is easy to see why it is such a popular destination. And not just the scenery, which is really interesting no matter what direction you approach from. Lots of insects and lots of rising fish. The insects yesterday were midges by the bucketfulls and on-again-off-again BWOs, both of which got fish up eating, at least sporadically, for the best part of the four hours that I was there.
Well, I didn’t get skunked, but got to admit that I would have to refine some of my gear and fly selection decisions, and improve my presentation techniques for fishing downstream on really flat water, where a lot of the rising fishies were. Since this was as much a scouting trip, and another test for the FEB skwala, as it was a serious fishing effort, hooking up with only four fish ( and getting another half dozen or so to at least hit the fly ) wasn’t all that disappointing.
The number of rafts and drift boats in all the parking lots and on the water was staggering, but it was Saturday. And I went partly on a weekend day to have the chance to observe others who would be more experienced on this creek.
The number of wolves I spotted on the way home was much lower - just one. :shock: That was the real treat for the day.
John, Nice report on Wolf Creek/ Graig, MT area spots. I saw that and said dang that’s a long day trip from Missoula, then read the report. I have been there and enjoyed the spots very much. You’re right about the drift boats too. There seems to be hundreds of them. Jim
