Little Missouri Fly Fishing

As of 6:00 am the Corp is still running a minimum flow on the Lil' Mo'. I went to the Corp office yesterday to tell them they have the bunger valve tweaked just right for fishing on the river. They advised the bunger was running at 7% capacity and they planned on keeping it that way for a while!!  What ever a while means??🤔🤔.

At any rate, its kinda like big water fishing. I did notice the water clarity had worsened a little, must be picking up a little silt off the bottom of the lake. The water temp is holding at 54 degrees at the park, haven't checked down river lately. Maybe some fish have washed down to River Ridge??🥴. I fished yesterday and caught about a dozen, that's summer time fishing!! 

‼️ At 5:00 on 9 July 2024 they have STOPPED the minimum flow?  Don't know why or when they will start back.

As of 10:00am the Corp still has one bunger valve about 10% open. It is fishable!!  About 9 inches of David's Rock is out of the water, you can use that as a gage🤣🤣. When David's Rock is totally underwater I'd call that un fishable. I caught a few fish this morning in the minimum flow, you just have to get your fly down.

These conditions could change any second but they have held this same flow since yesterday afternoon at 2:00 pm. The water temperature at the park is 54 degrees and the water clarity is good!!  Don't know if this is the beginning of the lake pull down so they can work on the trash racks, or just the river flush I asked for🤔🤔. Enjoy it if you get the chance, it's not often you get to fish a "flowing Lil' Mo'.

It's Saturday morning at 5:30 am and no water running on the Lil' Mo'. Last year I could still find fish at River Ridge, not this year. The water temperature is above 82 degrees from the pipeline downstream. That's the bad thing about no generation, no cold water gets down river. The other bad news is the poachers!!  The fish have been wiped out at Sycamore run by the renters of the Trout House. With no flow on the river the worm boxes and powerball bottles the bait chunkers litter lay on the river banks longer, you can tell they have been there!!  This past Wednesday I circled thru the park at noon, just before my nap 😴, there was a man and his boy with 8 nice trout laid out on the handicap side walk, fishing worms to get there other two!!  He was a local, he knew he was breaking the law and didn't care!! This happens all the time, thats where the fish go during the summer months. I have run off a half dozen poachers in the past month and I'm only at the park a couple of hours a day.

The Riverside park area is the only place with any fish now and it has slowed down to a summer trout fishing pace. Still enjoyable but a slow bite after the sun gets on the water.

1 July 2024.  Seeing lots of dead fish in the river!!  The water temperature is ok at the park but the oxygen level may me getting bad?  They really do need to flush the river. Nothing new on any dam repairs.


‼️ WOW, someone up there is reading my post! Just got up from my nap and there is a little minimum flow going on the river!!!!  Just right, at this minute, for a cold water oxygenated river flush!! 

Hang on to them,Mike.  We will be back soon.  Last time we were at L'Mo you had gone to Norfork.  We had fair to good fishing for 2 days and one super evening prime time with small drys.

Jim, I have not seen you and Judy in a year!!  Hope you are both doing well??  I have some flies that I tied for you over a year ago!!!

I can't get over there as often as I would like but I really do appreciate your periodic reports on the conditions at L'Mo.   

Thanks Mike, appreciate your info and time.  Really helps.

At 6:00 this morning they are still not running the bunger valve. The river could actually use another good flushing!!  They have been totally shut down since 30 May. I fished at River Ridge yesterday, did not raise a fish!!!  The water temperature was 81 degrees, guess the fishing is over down there for this year 😞.

Fishing is fair at the park, but you have to get out early or the bite slows around 10:00 am. I'm still throwing a slider with fair results. I did move down to 6 x tippet last week. The water clarity is really good, all the silt has fallen out and no rain here for over a week.

Thanks Mike, spot on.

This is just for you people leaving early to get to the river today!!  It's 3:00am on the Lil' Mo', 64 degrees headed to 87 today, no rain in sight and there is no bunger valve open at this time.

The lake is currently at 545.45 and holding steady. The water temperature at River Ridge yesterday was 79 degrees.😬😬. The park is holding around 64, depending on when and where you measure it, which is good considering no flow,except for the seepage, since the 30th of May.

The fishing has really slowed down in the past week. It's become true summertime fishing, best early morning then the bite really slows starting around 10:00am. The fly selection has changed, guess the only trout left in the river are those that learned what to eat, the rest died from starvation 🤣🤣.

As usual, I'll post as soon as I see water running past my house! Who knows when?  Still no new information on any dam repairs. River water levels are very low all over the river, due to no flow from generators or bunkers. Break out those midges, sliders, gnats, brown flies and soft hackles and enjoy.

‼️ 21 June 2024  @ 6:00am: a quick note for you weekenders, still no water flow on the Little Mo.  That makes 22 days with no flow.