Mo Water on the Mo and the F3T

When we left for the Missouri this past Friday, it was flowing at about 18,000 cfs below Holter Dam. When we arrived in Craig on Friday night, the Mo was flowing at 21,000 cfs. This 3k rise in water was a recipe for bad fishing. The day of poor fishing was confirmed back in Craig as many of our fellow fisherman shared our luck. To be expected I suppose. Rising water always displaces fish and they need time to adjust to the new conditions. Instead of catching a lot of trouts, I tried my hand at casting on the recently submerged Craig campground; I caught one 12" brown trout; I checked out the worm hatch; and I was heckled.

We went to Craig for more than just fishing. The F3T was in town and Headhunters had a gaggle of pre-film activities planned for the night. There was free bbq, a $1 dry fly sale, vendors, free beer, a casting contest, free bbq, free beer, free films, free swag, and other free things. After a day of skunktastic fishing, free food, beer and swag was a nice pick-me-up. The guys at Headhunters know how to have a good time. Bucko took second in the casting competition. He lost by one point. If he had managed to strip off 2 extra feet of line, he would have taken home a knife and a hat and the pride of being the best. Instead, he just got a hat and the title of the best loser. I didn't take any video or pictures of the celebration. But, SOL and John Arnold of HH were all over the place taking photos and hopefully they will make it on to the Headhunters blog in the near future. I also ran into Zach from False Casts and Flat Tires (another Missoula-based fly fishing blog). His camera was in tow, so look for some pictures from the festivities over on FCFT.