Beautiful Weather and Long Nights by the Fire!

2 days ago
2 min read

April 23, 2026

Our first group of guests arrived on the Ranch to warm weather and clouds of mayflies. With the temperatures touching 80 degrees, the Spring BWO hatch is in full swing and keeping the fish as happy as the guests. Lower flow levels are holding around 3200CFS, and water temps getting into the high 40's with cold front looking to roll in later this week.

BWOs have made their dramatic appearance on the Missouri River. Last week the main hatch was located in the Canyon and lower sections of the river, but in recent days the mayflies have been thick throughout our stretch of the Missouri coming out of Holter Dam. Midges are still present, but fish are focusing their efforts on the blue wing olives. To stick out from the crowd, we've seen Purple Haze lead flies with CDC emerger flies following behind being a great option to entice the risers.

Nymphs have been the go-to and producing good numbers with guests. Fish are beginning to spread throughout the river and not just isolated to the deep pools. Sow Bug patterns like the Pill Popper are still putting trout in the net, but we are seeing more and more whitefish keying in on them as well so don't be surprised to see guides snip off a Pill Popper in exchange for a dark, tungsten perdigon or a Green Machine fly in hopes of luring in more Browns and Rainbows.

On overcast days, streamer fishing is continuing to produce hefty trout. Dark Buggers and Game Changers seem to be what the large brown trout in the river are seeing as their meal of choice. ...ours has been Chef Justin's pork chops.