One Mo' Time

[RockyRaab]

Not Utah, but...

Made my third annual four-day float on the Missouri out of Craig, Montana this week. Had a cold and was so miserable the first day I had to leave the drift boat after half a day. We had to re-find the fish every day, as they lowered the flow out of Holter Dam every day from 11,100 cfs to 9,100 the first day, and then down more each day until it was only 6,000 cfs the fourth day. Runs that were packed with fish one day were barren the next.

We still caught upwards of 30 fish a day, which is good but not exceptional. But all but a few were 16"+ running to 21" My fishing partner caught the big fish of the trip, a 23" 'bow that probably ran six pounds as it was massively girthy. Here are some of mine:








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[albinotrout]

Looks like you had an awesome trip.
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[Tarponjim]

Can't ever miss on the MO! I spend several weeks a year there. Flow is down even more now. My next visit will be at the end of this month! Thanks for the primer.
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[fmrusmc]

Looks like a great trip! Good fishing and beautiful scenery! Not to mention our of the bad air in the city and breathing nice clean air.
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[RockyRaab]

If you're going that soon, they may still be hitting the same fly. Our "hottie" was a #20 pinkish sowbug -- for which the local trout shops charge $2.25. Each.
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[catfish77]

Awesome man! I had no idea you were a fly fisher too
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[RockyRaab]

Oh, I dabble. I really only go fly fishing a few times a year. I used to be pretty serious about it, and fortunately it's like riding a bike - your muscles don't forget.
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[Flyfishinglover]

I always wanted to fish MO. Maybe in a few year's I will. Thanks for the amazing pictures [].
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[PACKFAN]

Nice pictures, I like fishing the other side of the dam for the walleye and usually a pretty good chance of spotting some nice Big Horn rams. Pretty country.
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[RockyRaab]

We saw wild sheep on the rock spine just down from the dam, as well as a bunch of eagles, ospreys, pelicans, and kingfishers. Plus mink, muskrats, turtles, and more. Remarkable considering we spent 99% of our time staring fixedly at our Thimgamabobbers or dry flies!
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Sounds like fun. Nice work.

You will be happy to know that I provided some exercise for your crappies on Rocky's Atoll and Rocky's Ridge. But, y'know, none of them even asked about you.
[/#0000FF]
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[RockyRaab]

The ingrates! After I made them famous, too. I may have to go out there and give them a good talking to, face-to-face.
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[cpierce]

Awesome trip report. Thanks!
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[RockyRaab]

A couple more. Here's my friend with a rainbow the size of a salmon. And one of my brownies with unusually large spots - a gorgeous fish. Our guides are quite reluctant to have fish out of the water for very long, and so there aren't many opportunites to take photos unless the fish are exceptional in some way. They're usually unhooked and released right from the net without being touched. I understand and applaud that, but it does diminish the "photo memories" factor.




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[CoyoteSpinner]

What she said. Fun trip, great report. I was expecting a face-full of crap-pies again! Glad you're getting out - good on ya!

[WaveWolf]

[#484848]Looks like a fun trip. Have you tried it in your yak?[/#484848]
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[RockyRaab]

While I've seen a few 'yaks and 'toons on the Mo, the vast majority of craft are drift boats. The many sudden shallow riffles would be death on my Mirage Drive, also. I'm strictly a stillwater yakker.
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[Flounder70]

Beautiful place! [fishon]
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[cutter4]

Im so looking at those pedal boats they sound awesome.
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