Fishing Q&A

What kind of flies should I be fishing with on the Missouri River west of Great Falls, MT?

Not sure what kind of flies I should use for fly fishing this time of year. I went to today with no success.

Public Comments

1. This time of year in NC we would use may flies. Not sure for up there.
2. Are you fishing the farmlands, say from Casdade to Great Falls? Or are you up in the Holter Dam to Cascade area? If you are down in the farm lands, I have never fished there. Holter Dam to Cascade, that is a different story. Nymphing is really great this time of year. Dry fly when you see the hatches coming off. The Missouri River fishes mostly really small flies, far smaller than many other Montana rivers. In the past I have had great luck with the following nymphs fished 3 to 5 feet under a strike indicator: Bead Head Hare's Ear with flash; BH Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear; BH Copper John; BH Lightening Bug; BH Pheasant Tail and Pheasant Tail with flash; Brassie. All of these fished right off the bottom. For dries the Elk Hair Caddis in tan or brown is a good one as is the Adams or Parachute Adams. All of these are small, nothing over size 16. The fish really key in on the smaller flies. In some of the deeper holes you could do some streamers going deep after the Browns. I looked up the following info from my copy of Flyfisher's Guide to Montana. Midges come off year round on the Missouri. Good flies would be the Griffith's Gnat 18-24; Adams 16-24; Palomino Midge 16-24; Serendipity 16-24. The Pale Morning Duns should be starting up really soon if not already. Flies like a PMD Crippel 16-22; Sparkle Dun 16-22; Rusty Spinner 16-22; CDC Transitional Dun 18-22; Hare's EAr Nymph 16-20; Pheasant Tail Nymph 16-20. The Caddis should be coming off by now and flies like the Black Caddis Pupa 16-18; X-Caddis 16-18; Emergent Sparkle Pupa 16-18; Hemingway Caddis 16-18; Tan Caddis 16-18; Elk Hair Caddis 16-18; Soft Hackle 14-18. Good luck. Larry