Mid Winter Montana Fishing Report

We have been blessed with some very mild weather the last couple of weeks here in Montana. With that we have been taking advatage of some of the great winter fishing we have here in SW Montana. It's a nice break from the typically frigid Jan temps.

During this time of year when the daytime highs hover around 40 degrees or more we head to the river. Focusing on the tailwater fisheries this time of the year will give you the most productive fishing. Due the nature of a tailwater the water temps stay fairly consistant. Our best tailwaters are the Upper and Lower Madison. The Big Horn and The Missouri rivers.

Last Weekend we spent sometime fishing the Madison below Ennis Lake the fishing was excellent landing atleast 40 fish in 3 hours. We caught most of our fish on Scud Bugs and Midge Patters and took a few on the egg. Not many big fish but still fun and close to home.

This past weekend I spent two days fishing the MO. The fishing was incredible. Warm days and big fishing crewing hard. Same basic fly patterns were working. Scud Bugs and Midge Larva. This time of the year its all about finding the fish, and when you do look out!

To rig up for this type of fishing I like to use a 9 1/2 6 weight rod with a 9 foot 4x leader. Then drop 4x and 5x from ther to your two nymps. Your total leader length will be 13 or 14 feet. You need these long leaders to get the fly down and to get the correct drift. I tend to fish a small amount of deep soft lead and use either a Yarn indiactor or a thingamabobber.

Make long cast and big mends try not wade on top of the fish. When caught handle them with care!.... snap a few pics and get them back in the water quickly.Always remember to pinch your barbs! Protect the resource so our kids can enjoy it too.