MIssouri River fishing update by Mary the great

Rachel – Thank you so much for arranging this trip for us. Once again, it was spectacular. The picture below doesn’t do justice to the fish we caught. I just can’t get my server working. Hopefully, this weekend and then I can forward a couple of more pictures. The people at the Trout Shop were great. The guest house was perfect. Very cozy. Well appointed and lots of extra fishy touches. Although we were right on a really good fishing stretch of the River, we never fished from the cabin side. We did fish it while drifting by and did well. We really enjoyed staying there. They did not have WiFi but I think there was a wider problem because we heard the restaurant also got disconnected. We had high winds a couple of days. Also lots of rain and a little chilly. Typical spring in Montana. The fishing could not have been better. First day with Craig, we got our butts kicked. We were so tired after the first day that we couldn’t make it back into town for dinner. Just snacked and went to bed. Craig is young and enthusiastic. He told us when we put in that the fish were aggressive on the take but to set on anything that felt fishy. Within a minute I had a fish literally rip the rod from my hand. I held onto the fly line and recovered but it was a 10 on the aggressive scale. Laure said that between the two of us, we didn’t go more than 5 minutes the entire day without a fish on. And Craig gave us a long day. Couldn’t believe the size and strength of the fish. Nothing caught under 14”, most in the 16” – 18” range with a few at 20+”. Really great fish. Mostly nymphs but some dry fishing in afternoon. Forgot that I had fished with Tom Jenni on the Blackfoot with you. Next three days with Tom. Still good fishing and again, long days. Both guides were very generous with their time. Tom spent a lot of time with Laure helping her with her casting and her reach cast for better dry fly presentation. We did mostly dry fly with Tom so that was a lot of fun. Given that this was about 5th down on our list of where we wanted to go, Laure and I were both totally surprised and very happy with the trip and the fishing and we would both go back in a heartbeat. To book your next fly fishing trip to Montana's Missouri River give Rachel Andras a call at Andras Outfitters 530.227.4837. www.andrasoutfitters.com