Little Missouri Fly Fishing

Mike, it was good seeing you Friday!  Your input and info is a blessing, thanks for taking your time to inform of river conditions.  We all appreciate you.

I was there earlier with my son.  They were definitely active, probably because water temps are rising. 

We C&R about 20 until a 5' gar swam within 3 feet of me and started chasing our catches.  Once that happened, we packed up and left.  I didn't want to feed the gar with a hooked trout.

At 5:00 on Saturday morning, just for all you weekenders, they are not running any water on the Lil' Mo'. It's now 23 days with no flow!!  It's a little scary because the water temperature at Hinds Bluff and River Ridge is 72 degreese!!  It's still 63 at the park because of the seepage from the dam. A little hot rain runoff into the river and we could start to lose some fish. That's the major problem with the condition of the generators, no regular flow means no cold water thus no trout!! 😬😬.

Still a lot of fish at the park but they have really been run over and pounded for the past week. They must all have the sore mouth. That much pressure all day long really slows the bite. I am however sure they are still there, I've only run off 2 sets of poachers since the catch and keep season ended. Of course I'm not at the park that often, fishing is still good all down river. Again I urge you, if you see people breaking the rules, TELL THEM!!

The lake is up to 541.70. Again I say the Corp could open a bunger valve at any time. Be vigilant!! 

Thanks for the updates Hen.  Hope to see you on the water again soon.

Hi Mark, thanks for all your efforts in getting information out to us.  I'd like to know more about the "Slider" you mentioned.  Not sure I understand what it is or how to tie it.  You mentioned the cut off for keeping fish, are there any park ranger or warden efforts to monitor this?  Thanks again!

MARK, you don't have to reply to this as I saw in Jeff's fly section he'd added two 'sliders'.  Good looking flies.

It's now 12 days of no bunger valves running. I checked the water temperatures this morning: Riverside = 60 degrees, Hinds Bluff = 64 degrees and Old Factory = 66 degrees.  Long shut down periods could give us water temperature problems in the future. The lake is currently at 539.68, only up one foot  since they shut down 12 days ago. That's good, considering how much rain we have had.

Today catch and keep ended from the dam to the pipeline!!👏👏. I feel there are more fish in the wall hole than I can ever remember at this time of year. Some nice strong ones too!!  I caught fish, one right after the other, on a Slider. It was fast and furious. Also caught fish at River Ridge and Hinds Bluff on my brown flies and my biscuit . Didn't try the slider there because the water was murky. I think they stocked sometime in the past 2 weeks, most likely on high water. I did fish up thru the skinny water toward the dam and it was slow, nothing like the deep hole at the wall.

If we can keep the poachers off the wall at the park, it could shape up to be a good summer of fishing, unless the problems with the trash racks at the dam give us water problems on the river.

‼️ 7 May 2024:  nothing really new to report. Still haven't run a bunger. Lake is up to 541, not bad considering the rains we have had. Fishing is still really good at the park and down river too. Slider is still producing well. Again, if I'm here, I'll post as soon as the water runs past my house!!  😱😱.

Drove up yesterday morning, fished till about 1:30.  Fish are really strong and feisty. Lots of fish, 10-14 in size! Was wet all day from slight drizzle to heavy rain till about the time I left. Saw no fishermen at other sites.  Was a great day of fishing!  Also a token of thanks to HEN for so much information! RR

As of 5:00 am this morning they are still not "bungering". I looked at River Gages but it shows all "M"s, so don't know where the lake is at, so who knows when they might start considering all the rain we've had.

I've been fishing the Norfork River for the past week so don't know what the situation is here on the LIL' MO". Plan on checking it out today, weather permitting!!  I've had reports of some bad catch rates!!😬😬.

No new information from the Corp on the repairs at the dam. I'm sure we will see another week or so of the bunger valves running in the near future!! 

Now that I'm home, will try and post as soon as they crank up the flow.

Thanks for the update.  This has been a frustrating trout season for the Little Mo for sure.

Today at 4:00 pm, with the lake at 538.50 they closed the bunger valve. It is still closed at 8:00 pm as I post this. 👏👏.

For the past three days there have been divers, both Corp and private contractors, inspecting the trash racks on the dam. I spoke with them Tuesday at Sawaha. They are still trying to formulate a repair plan 😬🤔🤔. Who knows how long that will take. For about one week they had one bunger valve WIDE open!!  The water level came up over my river dock. They were getting the lake level to 540, the level which the divers requested for their inspection.

I have told you before "you can never step into the same river twice". We will see how that holds up as I expect, because of the long period of high water, that there have been many changes in the river. New deep holes, trees down, washed out areas, and new places for trout to hide. A river is ever changing!! 

Don't know how long they will hold this time. I think it depends on the rains and how fast the lake rises. They MAY try to work the trash racks at this 540 level, that would be nice 👍.

‼️ Friday 19 April 2024 @ 5:39 am:  Bunger valves still closed. Think I'll fish today 🤣🤣. Still seeing lots of March browns and I THINK they stocked this week??  See ya on the river.