Big Mo

It has been a crazy few months for this featherhead! I am so far behind on the blog. But - although it's been a bit crazy it has been a few of the best months in my life as far as my river addiction goes. I've gone through guide training, shadowed some of the best guides in the state, guided on some corporate trips (to include one client that didn't speak English (do you know how to describe a drag free drift without using words?), and have guided my own trips. Unreal! I've also started teaching the Orvis 101 and soon 201 classes out of Angler's Covey as well. Dream come true. The guys at the Covey have become my extended family and I couldn't be happier to be working in this scene. So needless to say my little journal has been neglected. But there are a few good trips that I really want to write up first of which is my first trip to Montana!

I had an opportunity to get out to Great Falls Montana on business and I figured there was no way I was going to be in Montana and not take a day to fish. I figured why not start with the Missouri. I read up on a few sections and emailed a few outfitters and I got a really quick and honest reply from Garrett Munson Montana Fly Fishing Outfitters. I received a few reply's from other outfitters just telling me what I wanted to hear but Garrett gave me the scoop on current conditions and where the best fishing was. Easy decision, sign me up.

Garret hooked me up with guide Darrel DeLeon and we hit it off. Darrel lived in Colorado Springs for a while and knew a lot of the same guides I do. This is actually Darrel's first year guiding on the Missouri but it sure didn't feel like it.

We launched just below Holter Dam and Darrel rowed us way out to the other side of the river to hit a good run. My first impression was that the Missouri is really crowded. Lots of boats. Darrel stated it was a slow day that day actually. I'd hate to see a busy day. Good thing is that Darrel knew some good runs that were wide open. Most boats were hitting the same channels but we got out on some freshies and hooked up almost immediatley.

The bows in this river are friggin strong! Really fun fish to fight and catch. We had a few very large jumpers hooked up that I just couldn't land. We did wind up catching a ton of nice fish throughout the day. We even got into some great dry fly action further down from the dam. We caught mostly bows but right at the end of the day we landed this nice brown.

The day went in a blink of an eye and it was super fun. I'd recommend Darrel to anyone. He taught me some really good fish fighting techniques that I've used since. Always something to learn in this sport and Darrel was a great teacher. Hope to fish with you again Darrel!