Little Missouri Fly Fishing

Thanks Hen. It's frustrating to hear and imagine what the river looks like and it must be heartbreaking to see it everyday.  We really appreciate your reports and I pass the information on to our fly fishing club members.  Hopefuly things will start improving soon.
 

As of 5:00 this morning there has been no flow at all on the river since 17 September. No bunger and of course no generation. The water temperature is up to 62 degrees, the water is clear but the bottom is really dirty and rusty looking, kinda red ! 😬😬. The fishing is poor, as it always is this time of year. Just not many fish left in the river, they have mostly been harvested, either legally or illegally 🤔.

It's only 13 days before a new trout season. Last year they stocked for the first time on the 17th of October. Hope they are that timely this year.

They have still not started the pull down of the lake so that they can work on the trash racks that protect the generators. That was supposed to happen the end of September. The lake is at 543 and they were supposed to pull it down to 533 according to Janet at Sawaha. With our luck they will reopen the bunger valve to do that about the same time they stock fish!😱😱.

Will let you know as soon as I see a stocking truck. It should be an interesting trout season.

‼️ 9:30 Wednesday, checked the water temperature at at Hinds Bluff. It was 70 degrees!!  That's not real good. 😌

I sure hope they will.

I actually think they will 🙏🙏🙏.

Sad days to come 😢, do you think they will stock this year.

As I noted, they closed the bunger valve on the 17th so they could do work on the electrical stuff at the base of the dam. As of 5:00am this morning it is still closed. There were a lot of workers there yesterday but I assume as soon as they are finished, they will open the valve again?? 

No water flowing in the river lets you see how nasty the bottom of the river really is from all the crap coming thru the bunger valve. The fishing has been REALLY bad these past two days ( a couple of fish each day in a 2 hour span). Gonna try them again today and see if they have adjusted to the current conditions of no flow.

Nothing new on the work project for the trash racks. Last word from Janet at Sawaha was for them to start work the end of this month. If so, I would think they would start pulling the lake down to the 533' foot level really soon?🤔🤔. Who knows what the Corp will do!! 

‼️ I fished this morning for 2 hours and never got a bite!!🤔😱😬☹️.

Thanks for the reports, Mike.  Judy and I hope to get to Lil'Mo later this fall if the CoE doesn't ruin everything.  She is needing her "fly rod fix" as she had her shoulder rebuilt about 4 weeks ago and will be more than ready to try it out by late October.
SEARK Jim

You can read my report on 2 September and it will be the same for today!!  Nothing changed here in the past two weeks. It's a month from today when trout season starts on the Little Mo'. I have no idea what this year might bring?  I assume they are still planning on working on the dam the end of this month but they have not started pulling the lake down other than the continuous 17% bunger valve release. Water and river bottom is still very dirty and has a really foul odor, I assume from the lake turning over. I'm still catching a fish here and there but they have really been depleted since the last May stocking. If I find out anything new I'll post it ASAP, if not I'll post again in a couple of weeks.

‼️ Alert yesterday, 9/17, as I was fishing they closed the bunger valve!  I had caught a couple of fish but as the water dropped I never got another bite. That seems to happen often??  I was advised they were working on the electrical stuff at the switch yard and we're getting wet from the spray off the bunger. As of 5:00 am this morning, 9/18, it is still closed thus no flow on the Lil' Mo'. Guess they will be working on it again today.

Just a quick update of nothing to report.     They are still running the 17% bunger valve, that's 60 days straight!!  The water is really silty and stinky!!  I think the lake has turned over as it usually does this time of year. Water temperature is still at 54 degrees, right off the bottom of the lake. There are still a few trout to be caught but it's tough and the bite is sporadic.

I've heard nothing new on the dam repairs since I last posted. I really expect them to start pulling the lake down for the repairs soon after the Labor Day weekend is over. It will take about 20 days to pull the lake down 10 feet more unless they go crazy and open the bunger wide open!!😱😱. Hope not, it really erodes the river banks. Slow and easy is better. I'll try and post as soon as they start the pull down because the fishing will be over for a while.

The Corp has been running one bunger valve at 7% for 46 days now. Makes the river kinda like an early spring Idaho river, except for the silt!!  Sometimes the water looks clearer but the river bottom is so dirty it's hard to tell. I'm still catching about the same number of fish that I do any other year at this time. Water temp over the entire 6 miles of river from the dam to low water bridge is about 54 degrees.

Janet Fant posted the following on the Facebook site, friend's of lake Greason, yesterday:
            * Money has been allocated to repair the dam
           
            * Project to begin near the end of September 2024

            * Projected to draw down to approximately 534', which is normal for that that time of year. 

            * plan is to work during the draw down, continuing until they get to the 534, then continue more as they bring levels back up(to try to stay ahead of the rise).

That's more than I've heard so thank you Janet. Don't have a clue what this will do to this years trout season.  Will they still stock? When will they start the draw down? Lots of unanswered questions. I've tried to contact Ryan Gary, the trout biologist for this river, but he is not answering my texts or calls!  Guess I pissed him off some time or another??  The lake is currently at about 544.  To pull it down 10 foot will take about 20 days, so they may start really soon.

Will post again as I know more and things start to happen.