After getting the group off and on their way back home, Nate and myself, started a journey north to try out some water that we had never fished. The Missouri! En route we were constantly reminded that the warmth of summer was on it’s way out. We continued north and stayed in the small town of Craig MT the first night, and managed to sneak some fishing in that evening and were pleasantly surprised!


After battling the anticipation of the Land of Giants, the sun finally poked up and off we went. The access point was between Craig and Helena MT and we had to use Wally’s jet boat to scoot across the Gateway to the Mountains lake and up into the river.
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous around every corner and the bug life was second to none!
And small too!
Luckily we weren’t planning on throwing dries. After motoring up river and getting our rods rigged up, It was time to hand out some sore lips. Well it didn’t take long.
Not only were the fish long but they were thick too. From battling the constant current in this stretch these fish had developed large shoulders.
As soon as you set the hook on these beast they would set off in a blistering run, a couple even tried to sneak up on the backing.
Luckily these fish weren’t leader shy like their eastern cousins so we were fishing 4x tippet and was able to put a little more muscle into it.
The power of these fish was purely amazing! The leaps and runs gave us all we wanted and then some on occasions. We didn’t break any off but we did straighten a few hooks. All the fish were rainbows except for one lone brown.
This truly was a trip of a lifetime. Great friends, Great fish, in a spectacular place!
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