Missouri River Fishing Resources

I'd like to take a moment of your time and share some good information. I've been lucky to have fished the Missouri River two years in a row. I've met some great people and acquired some great memories. I'd like to say "Thanks" to those who made it possible.

Jo and Bobo!

Mark Raisler of Headhunters Fly Shop

Mark and his crew have been a big help. Besides Mark being an excellent guide and photographer he also helped us book accommodations and services. My wife Jo and I stayed at the Rainbow cabin in town that's just a short walk to everything. On our last day we opted to rent a drift boat. This could not have been easier. Just tell them where you want to launch and where you want to take out. Your truck will be shuttled and waiting for you at the take out. Secure the boat on shore and they come and get it. Could not have been easier. At the end of our stay we settled up our bill at Headhunters Fly Shop were we received an itemized receipt complete with cabin, guide, license, boat rental and shop purchases. Again, could not have been easier.
Contact www.headhuntersflyshop.com

Mike Kuhnert of Evolution Fly Fishing

Mike has many years guiding the Missouri under his belt and it shows in every possible way. He is passionate for the river and its inhabitants. He is attentive to your every need. Even after your trip is over he will gladly join you at the local watering hole for a toast to celebrate the days fishing. You would be hard pressed to find a more passionate guide and I don't think you could fish a day with Mike without leaving with some of his passion.
Contact www.evolutionflyfishing.com

The Trout Shop

The Trout shop is another great source of everything fly fishing. Friendly helpful staff are ready to assist. Inside the great looking flyshop is the Craig Mercantile Deli. Get your Starbucks coffee, fresh made bagged lunch and stop back in the evening for a 6-pack with many brews to choose from. Again just walking distance from anywhere in Craig, Montana.
Contact www.the troutshop.com

Jo (My Better half)

Hooked Up!

She's passionate for horses and I'm obviously passionate for fishing. We work together to help each other fill those dreams. I'm careful to pick the places I take her fishing and after my first experience fishing the Missouri I knew I could not go wrong with this location. Get her in her comfort zone and the lady luck will come out. I'm pretty sure she out-fished me everyday and that's alright with me. It's pretty clear after this trip the Missouri is at the top of her list of favorite places to fish and that's good for me because I now know I can easily persuade her back there again.

The RIO Team

When you get to know the guys at RIO Fly Lines you quickly understand why this company is so successful. All of them have big passion for fly fishing. Every year RIO invites a group of fly fishing retailers on this trip. Besides experiencing some great fishing your only responsibilities are to enjoy good food and drink, try out some new rods and lines and provide some feedback for what we would like to see from them. RIO takes this opportunity to listen to our ideas and explore future possibilities. There's no conference rooms or lavish hotels. Just a fishing cabin lodging and the primary attire is your waders.
RIO is responsible for my first Missouri River experience and Simon Gawesworth is responsible for for my newly formed passion of Two Hand Trout fishing. You can read more about that experience in article RIO Fishing Trip - Missouri River, Montana 

Isaak's Resturant

Isaak's is located right in downtown Craig and next to Headhunters Fly Shop. It's the perfect place to relive your days fishing adventure. Brews, cocktails, appetizers, great food and a fisherman's atmosphere all come together to complete a perfect gathering place after a great day of fishing.
Contact Izaak's Resturant

So if you like to catch good size Browns and Rainbows on dries, nymphs, streamers and of course my favorite swinging flies, take in great food, drink and atmosphere in a beautiful part of the country and enjoy the small fishing town life then I highly recommend you give Craig, Montana a try. I'll be back again for sure!

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Winston MicroSpey takes on the Mighty Missouri

As we drive up I-15 through Idaho on our way to Montana it's clear that fall has arrived in these parts of the country. Leaves are turning, the days are growing short and fall smell is in the air. We are on our way to conjoin the Missouri River equipped with the new Winston Boron BIII TH-MS (MicroSpey).

Big Water, Big Sky

I booked this trip way back in January. Little did I know I would have a brand new Trout two hander in my possession. You see on this very river just a year ago I landed my first two hand caught trout swinging a pair of soft hackle flies. From that point forward only one thing was certain about my future of trout fishing. It would be with a Two Hand Rod!

The package arrived about a week before the trip. I didn't even get a chance to go hit water for some line tuning. I just went with my gut and gave myself a plan B if needed. The Winston MicroSpey comes in 3 sizes, 3106-4, 4110-4 and 5116-4. My new rod is the 4110-4. 

There is a way different vibe at Winston and I like it!

From my first cast I knew something was very different about this rod. A little slower than what I was use to so I had to take some casting time to make some adjustments in my stroke. Once I tuned in to the action a feeling of harmony came over me. 

On the Swing

The MicroSpey has a compact lightweight feel much more like a good single hand rod. I think the compact feel comes from the grip. The grip on this rod keeps your casting box in a tight formation. It's so lightweight in hand and balances beautifully. 

I believe that is a Golden Eagle Not sure...I know fish better than birds!

The Boron Responds

For the past year I have been fishing the Sage ONE 4116-4. The Rio Scandi Short has been a perfect marriage with this rod. The faster tip of the ONE really favors this line. I like this line because it gives me the versatility to make a variety of spey casts and also performs overhead and roll casts to perfection. I feel that these casts are an important element to the trout two hand angler for versatility.

For the purpose of comparison and fish-ability I lined the MicroSpey with this Rio line. While I knew the MicroSpey has a slower action what I didn't expect was how the Boron in the butt section would load and respond with such authority. Casts were effortless and as I fine tuned into a relaxed stroke I found myself overcasting my targets. I should also mention that when I say "tuning into the relaxed stoke", doing so took about half dozen casts. The MicroSpey (like its single hand and full size spey siblings) are remarkably intuitive!

So Sweeet!

Battle for lines

For lines I fished a Rio Scandi Short VersiTip in the 320 Grain. That grain weight is nearing the top end of the suggested grain weight window for this rod. I usually like to feel a rod load deep so being at the top end of the scale comes as no surprise to me. I fished this set up with a Lamson Litespeed #3, a Rio ConnectCore 0.026 Shooting line. For soft hackle fishing I used the intermediate and type 3 tips and for streamer fishing I used the type 3 or type 6 tips. If there was one thing I could change with the Rio Scandi Short is I would like to see it fully integrated into a shooting line. Often times I find myself stripping a streamer inside the head loop and this gets really annoying dragging the loop back and forth through the guides. This is not a problem when I'm flat out swinging flies but I want to refer back to versatility. Today's two hand rods are so versatile and the only holding them back is lines.

The race for great switch lines is on and great progress is being made. I want to be quite clear that there will never be one perfect line to do everything. Example; My Rio Scandi Short VersiTip does a lot of things really good but it has a limit to fly size and sink tip size. Bigger and deeper is better suited for a skagit type of line. Nymph/Indicator fisherman could be looking at the best new rod ever for these techniques but you will need to line it out with a indicator line that has a heavy head to casts the cargo and a long rear taper to make the mends

Winston Boron III MicroSpey Specifications -

Line	(Grain Window)	Length	Top Grip	Bottom Grip	Weight (oz)
3wt.	(190-270 grains)	10'6"	11"	3'6"	4
4wt.	(240-330 grains)	11'	11"	3'6"	4 5/8
5wt.	(300-390 grains)	11'6"	11"	3'6"	5

New lines are expected soon from Airflo. Winston Ambassador Tom Larimer worked closely with Airflo to produce lines specifically for the MicroSpey and should breath some new life into your existing switch rods. Airflo Switch Streamer and Airflo Switch Float. Both Airflo lines will feature fully integrated running lines and are designed to be used with polyleaders and T-Series sink tip material.

Bobo!

I get the most satisfaction from new discovery. Discovery comes in many different forms. This stretch of the Missouri river is heavily fished every day for about 9 months of the year. Most are dry fly, indicator or streamer fishing and much of that is done from drift boat. If feels very different to me when I’m swinging flies and wading in a stretch of water others have ignored. I feel like I am presenting something new. The fish respond and I am rewarded with good catches. There are many fishermen on the river but none are doing what I’m doing. While I certainly did not discover the latest greatest new fishery I have in fact still made a discovery.

My conclusion is simple. I'm taking the MicroSpey on tour this year. Rainbows, Browns, Bass, Walleye and anything that swims in front of my fly beware! I have a new tool and I can't remember when I have been this excited!

Catch the story of my first Trout on the Swing in - 
Rio Fishing Trip - Missouri River, Montana

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"