I took my fishing buddy/guinea pig out the other day for a little recon. We got a few nymphing and a couple on streamers but with the sun blaring down, fishing was tough. Our plan was to float to Pelican Point and hopefully get out at about dark. We had sat on a few runs and hooked some fish but for the most part, the hot spots weren't producing so we didn't sit on a lot of fish and with nothing coming up, we burned a lot of water. So at about 5:30, somewhere near the bottom of the rapids below Prewett, we parked and drank a couple beers.
We pulled up anchor at around 6:30, just as the sun started it's decent behind Tower Rock. The left bank was seeing relief from the all-day burn and the fish were coming alive. We started moving a number of fish on streamers and by the time we were about a mile from the take-out, pods of fish started coming up. For that last half hour we had some pretty intense dry-fly fishing hooking some really good fish; mostly on midges.
Lesson of the day, plan your trip accordingly and be patient. I think that's something I've learned in the past three years guiding. There is rarely a day where the fishing just absolutely sucks the entire day. I've had really tough mornings and great afternoons. I've had great mornings and slow mid-days but depending on the time of year and weather conditions, there is usually a window and with the right planning, you can be where you need to when the window opens. And with a river like the Missouri, there is almost always a pod of resident fish somewhere near when that window opens that can make a trip.
Keep 'em where they live y'all.
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