Missouri River – Below Holter Dam

February 23, 2010 back to Fishing Journal

Good times with buddy Hafferman brought me back to the west side of the Missouri River below Holter Dam.

The weather was beautiful, if barely above freezing. We went back to the section of water where I had memorable, if marginal luck this time last year. Still trying to understand what these fish are up to. There were a few risers. Clearly, there are plenty of healthy (educated) fish here.

Water

Still, the water is amazingly clear – “gin” clear in classic fly fishing parlance. You can easily see several feet into the depths of the water. Lots of vegetative life in the river and loads of obvious resting places for trout.

Fishing

The trout were rising occasionally, more frequently as the day lengthened. It occurred to me while tossing streamers that I haven’t ever: a) had much luck with them in this area of the Missouri, and b) I’ve never seen a brown trout in here. I made me wonder what the odds were for drawing an aggressive strike to a streamer flashing by. As in the past, nothing struck. As also in the past, rainbows were rising to emergers: lightning bugs and my own strange creation. That being a soft hackled Royal Coachman on a #4. Hooking a nice rainbow on the second cast, I had to think maybe it was a sympathy strike or merely a poor fish surprised by something it had never seen.