B E A C H E D

"My brain was a bit slow on the uptake, but I eventually realised what I was looking at. A permit had literally beached itself, and was flapping about wildly on the wet sand. Seemingly undeterred, the fish slid back into the gutter on the next receding wave and continued on his merry, crab-hunting way. It just so happened that that way was straight towards me." Jeff Tyser on DIY permit on the beaches of Oman in our issue 9 feature, "A Ride on the Ras-Mad Rollercoaster." Read the full story and the rest of issue 9 for free online.

The Trailer to end all trailers. Join Waist Deep Media as they push the boundaries of what's possible in fly fishing. Exotic locations, expensive microphones, dramatic music. Nothing can match the remote danger experienced while filming the trailer for their new trailer, Rod Time Ep. 4 The Trailer.

What’s got an exploratory for remote Orange River yellowfish with Tourette Fishing and Ryan Janssens, Indo-Pacific permit redemption on an Omani beach with Jeff Tyser, mammoth Jurassic Lake rainbows with Tim Leppan, African pike with Leonard Flemming of Feathers and Fluoro, dog park politics with Gordon Van Der Spuy, a veteran lifer in Guy Ferguson, a High 5s with Russell De La Harpe, beetlemania with Alan Hobson, a rite of Bassas with Brendan Body, new waders from Patagonia Fly Fish, Thomas & Thomas Fly Fishing Exocett variants, gear, beer (from Fraser's Folly), beats from LeRoy Botha and more?

You got it Nick Slaughter. Issue 9 of The Mission is live online and free to read.

Cover: Ryan Janssens captures Johann Du Preez doing the Orange River sub-aquatic clean and jerk with a hefty largemouth yellow.

Yesterday we attended the annual meeting of the Upper Missouri Water Advisory Group. It’s essentially a gathering of all the bean counters that work in the watershed of the upper Mo, everyone from fishery biologists to the Bureau of Reclamation and Northwestern Energy attends. As guides and outfitters there is a lot of information in an afternoon long meeting that is irrelevant to our fishing season. However, the two most important topics we want to share with our anglers are predicted streamflows for the Mo and the latest fish counts. Here is the short version.

Missouri River Flow

Our snowpack this year is huge statewide. Most watersheds are sitting in the 130%-160% of a normal average. The main stem Missouri is at 157%. And since April 15th is the magic day where snowpack is set for the season, it’s a safe bet we have the snow necessary for a good water year. So what does this mean? Well, it means we have the snowpack and the potential for a huge water year below Holter. It doesn’t guarantee it though, we could hit drought weather next week. The dam folks have a predicted range of everything from the huge 2011 type flows to normal 4,000cfs low water year flows. See the water year graph below.

Missouri River Fly Fishing

What we do know is that for now they are emptying a little extra water out of our lake system early; so we can expect above average flows for the rest of the pre-runoff time of April and early May. Anyone who has been out to the river lately has seen this and it looks good out there. 6Kcfs is a nice healthy flow on the river. Only time will tell how it all will pan out, but we like where we are sitting. It’s much better to have a high water year than low summer flows. It’s good for fishing, great for the fish, and helps decrease our seasonal water temps.

Missouri River Fish

Every year the Montana FWP Biologist for the Mo presents their annual fish survey data to the public. They take samples from two areas on the river, Craig and Cascade. The data is as follows:

CRAIG SECTION(WOLF CREEK BRIDGE TO CRAIG FAS)

4,936 Rainbow trout per mile with a large age class in the 16-18 inch range.

576 Brown trout per mile with an average size in the 12-15 inch range.

CASCADE SECTION(2 MILES ABOVE AND BELOW PELICAN POINT FAS)

1,592 Rainbow trout per mile.

387 Brown trout per mile with a large age class in the 15-18 inch range.

20 Brown trout per mile in the 20-24 inch age class.

Troutopia close up.jpg

Essentially, our fish population on the Missouri below Holter Dam continue to hold steady at nothing short of amazing. All the fish counts are either at or way above the long term average and there are a large amount of big fish. There is also data supporting a smaller age class of fish which bodes well for the future of the fishery. For more information on our fish populations, the Helena IR did a recent article re-capping all data presented by Montana FWP.

Take Home Points

There is a load of information available when it comes to these types of studies and predictions. It is always important to remember that we are dealing with Mother Nature and wild trout, most of what actually happens is out of our control. That is part of the fun of fly fishing.

The stage is set for a huge water year on the Mo, we are currently sitting very similar to previous big water years. However, weather can change. I think the most important take home is many of the experts at the meeting seemed to be thinking good thoughts about having this much water.

Our fish populations are A+ on the Missouri right now. Large fish and many of them, the biologists seem pleased and very happy about the results they are getting.

Even though fish populations look good and water flows are aligned to be healthy we mustn't let our guard down. We still have to take care of our recourse and protect it against negative impacts such as aquatic invasive species.

Since April is Earth Month, I thought it would be good to post about some ways to make a positive impact on the environment. As anglers, we have a responsibility to protect what we love and plastic pollution is increasingly threatening fisheries around the world.

The good news is that plastic pollution is a fixable problem that begins by simply refusing to buy goods made of single-use plastics. The challenge is knowing where to begin, which is why I made a list of "5 Things You Can Do to Refuse Single-Use Plastics."

Hope you enjoy!

Lance Egan, Devin Olsen, and myself are excited to launch the trailer for our upcoming instructional film Modern Nymphing Elevated - Beyond the Basics. Pre-sale orders of the digital download are available for 15% off using coupon code "earlybird" at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modernnymphingelevated

This trip has been on my list since a not very successful attempt last year due to the weather! We sorted out annual leave well ahead and with the superb summer down here in the South Island the level of excitement was high.....but then the shit hit the fan! Not even a week before DAY 1 things started to go against us. Cyclone Gita was approaching New Zealand, vehicle breakdown, flight cancellation for my mates arriving from Canada and I started to panic about everything...

By DAY 1 our plan fell absolutely apart.... so we went from plan A TO B,C to D and ended up going on a family road trip around the South Island instead.

DAY 10 - text: hill is open, you guys got in yet? DAY 11 - dropped off my family at the airport! (Thanks heaps for letting me go!)

In the end I had a chance to spend 5 days fully submerged into fly fishing surrounded by absolutely top people!

Despite the rain and coffee stained water we headed out to try our luck. First day on the water left us with no fish, but later on the weather conditions slightly improved and we were lucky enough to encounter some Kahawai and finally got our chance to chase after some stunning KINGFISH! With every other day the weather got better and better and so did the fishing!

I am at home now writing a little blog post with a smile on my face already dreaming about another saltwater trip, but the rest of the boys are still there... and I really hope they are having a great time! It was pleasure to meet you all! You are a freaking cool bunch!!

P.S SORRY J Kells there was nothing I could have done, but don`t worry mate, plenty of adventures ahead of us!

TIGHT LINES!

We interview Jako Lucas of Capt. Jack Productions in the next "The Sustainable Angler" and talk about how climate change is impacting fisheries around the world. We also discuss what you can do to mitigate the risks associated with climate change.

What's got an incredible profile on fly fisherman, chef and near death experience comeback kid Eduardo Garcia, a Lifer with Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn, mythical Garden Route forest trout with Jazz Kuschke, a glimpse backstage at Astove Atoll with Kyle Reed, Taimen and Mongolian miles with James Topham, brook trout and eels in New Zealand with Leonard Flemming of Feathers and Fluoro, a DIY Death March in Oz with Conrad Botes, a High 5s with globetrotting guide Francois Botha, fat Namibian Wishlist Fish Steenbras with Richard Wale, Gabon with Tudor Caradoc-Davies, an Emerger with Tim Leppan, the Reaper with Alec Gerbec of Alphonse Fishing Company, Texas-flavoured beats from Howler Brothers, beers from Drifter Brewing Company, loads of gear and a whole lot more?

You got it Magnum. Issue 8 of The Mission is live online.

K the killer, is coming on strong! Nice fish, a survivor of an old injury to her beak....and very tough....

K, (a vegan) is on her second season fly fishing.....look out next year!

Currently.....about 6" of fast melting snow. Currently cloudy. Rained a bit yesterday and the pack settled....it will be gone before you know it. Barely 40% of normal on the ground.....summer will be tough. Watch the night time temps closely....when it no longer is freezing....it's time for the melt. Then the dry fly guys will run away, and locals will hunt the big guys. TWO HANDER TIME!

Upper river is low at 100cfs, clear/green, lower 40s.

Locals have packed a trail to the water in a few places...The shire has a few spots to park as well. Hirschdale, and Floriston too....The lower river is 400+cfs and BEAUTIFUL! (But you will have to work for it.....)

Yesterday the birds... Black cap chickadees, Mountain Chickadees, Sparrows, Robins (The Robins arrived yesterday...THAT MEANS IT'S SPRING.) were in a frenzy feeding on shore....Mid-day, Skwallas started emerging for a long walk to sparse cover.

I wonder how many made it.......If it warms it will be another massacre of bugs...

But since they went off a month ago with no birds around......I know another generation will survive.

It felt like nature threw the birds a bone/bug........otherwise, not much to eat yet..

Baetis (A lrg sz dry 14-16, tall blue wing, as well as nymph), and Midges, both adults dry and subsurface, and Little Winter stones both dry and nymph.....

All my posts are daily from the river......no shops were called in making this report.....:D

Generally, parking to fish , not so much......remember, no on-street parking this time of year....Keep'em wet!

Treat'em nice!

Florida Keys Fishing Report

Spring fishing here in the Florida Keys is really, really, really good.

I know I say every month, season, week, day is great but spring is by far the second best season to fish here.

The first of course is summer but we’ll save that article for that time.

So, back to the now, back to the spring fishing conditions.

We have spent most of the month inshore and at the bridges. The bite is pretty much non stop and the variety of fish here is anyone’s guess.

Jacks, yellowtail, mutton, mangroves, yellowjacks, schoolmasters, lanes, groupers, goliaths and sharks.

That’s the great thing about fishing inshore. A variety of fish, a short run to the bridge, calm waters and lots of dinner.

We are using live bait such as pilchards, Pinfish, shrimp and cut bait.

Any fresh cut bait is effective and bring in the fish.

Fresh chum or chunking works as well as frozen chum.

The migratory tarpon are here and getting ready to feed in full force. They are lying low under the bridges but you can bet as the water begins to warm up we will see them feeding and daisy chaining at the shorelines and in the channels.

In the coming weeks, the Mahi will be showing up offshore and grouper season reopens on May 1st.

We welcome the longer days, warmer weather and an abundance of fun and fishing. Hope to see you soon!