Southern Montana floats

Got a 4 day weekend coming up and I'm thinking the wife and I are going to head up to MT. I don't have much of a plan yet but was hoping I might get a little info from y'all. I'm mostly looking for easy rowing water, the wife doesn't mind being on the sticks but isn't a fan of it when things get hectic. Places with free BLM type camping close by get extra points.

I'm kind of thinking about doing a loop and bouncing around to different spots each day around Dillon, Twin Bridges, Bozeman. It seems like there's a lot of water in this area but I'm not sure how much of it is easy floating.

I'm also thinking about making a b line for Craig and spending 3 days fishing the MO. This river has been on my to-do list for a while and it seems like it's pretty mellow water with awesome fishing.

Any info would be hugely appreciated as I'm kind of all over the map right now.

Madison below Beartrap Canyon is mellow w/easy camping.

Yellowstone below Yankee Jim to Mallards is pretty mellow. Camp on an island.

Make the trek to the MO...well worth it IMHO. Grew up on that stretch and it never seizes to amaze me how good it fishes. Easy water to row and lots of public camping on the water.

Go to the Mo.

The lower Madison (while nice) will be crowded with a Bikini Hatch on the weekends and it is hot as blazes here and expected to remain that way.

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Originally Posted by Tye 1on

Madison below Beartrap Canyon is mellow w/easy camping.

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Better be going below blacks ford if you actually wanna fish with the bikini hatch in full effect now(esp with 4th of July). If I were coming from out of town I would prob hit Yellowstone since water is still cool. Did grey bear to otter yesterday and even with high temps fishing was ok and if you stay on water late fish were looking up with a pretty good caddis hatch. Craig is always good but I typically steer clear most summer due to temps and people but again it's a destination for a reason. Just get drunk all day and put on at like six and float till dark. Oh and if you like your wife prob don't go to Joe's, I hear some dodgy individuals frequent that establishment. Isaacs is more orvis crowd. You really can't go wrong around here and most rivers aren't technical water. Have fun

Missouri River. State Campground right in Craig at the boat ramp. One minute Walking distance to restaurant, bar, 4 fly shops, and a walk-in cigar humidor. Insane trout fishing and zero fast water. With 3 or 4 days you can mix up which sections to float on which different days.

Edit: all the fly shops in Craig are good, but my favorite is Headhunters as they have a very TGR-ish vibe.

The MO it is, it didn't take much to talk me into that. Appreciate all the info.

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Originally Posted by lifelinksplit

Oh and if you like your wife prob don't go to Joe's, I hear some dodgy individuals frequent that establishment.

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Not really sure what that means but you've got my interest piqued. I can afford to gamble with this one, I've got 6 more at home. ;)

You're liver might be sore if you stay in Craig.

The Walleye fish and chips at Izzak's is a must if its on special, just be warned its like 3lbs of fish. The spinach/smoked bacon is also to die for. Actually anything out of their smoker is...

Free beer on the Headhunters porch. Use them for shuttles. If you meet Mark, John, or Sarah tell them I say hi.

If I could only fish Pelican to Cascade for the rest of my life I'd be fine with that. Bring your switch rod an soft hackles.

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Originally Posted by snapt

You're liver might be sore if you stay in Craig.

The Walleye fish and chips at Izzak's is a must if its on special, just be warned its like 3lbs of fish. The spinach/smoked bacon is also to die for. Actually anything out of their smoker is...

Free beer on the Headhunters porch. Use them for shuttles. If you meet Mark, John, or Sarah tell them I say hi.

If I could only fish Pelican to Cascade for the rest of my life I'd be fine with that. Bring your switch rod an soft hackles.

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And in the morning across form Headhunters is a breakfast burrito place that served up one of the best I have ever had.
Thirded on Headhunters, awesome shop with a great vibe.

dually noted!

Love to hear how the trip goes. Last year went down to Twin Bridges and fished with the guys from Four Rivers Fishing Co. Fantastic guys there, if you get a chance, stop in and check out their shop. Attachment 168159Attachment 168160Attachment 168161

Went to the MO. All the camp spots close to town were taken so we ended up pretty far down river at the Prewett Creek RV campground. Normally I hate paying for camping but it didn't seem like there was any BLM or public land nearby, at least we couldn't find any on the few dirt roads we explored so we ended up here. Nice place run by a really nice older couple, small fly shop and they do shuttles right from there so it made it easy, we did a couple of floats where we either ended right there or started right there, the boat ramp is across the street.

The guys at Headhunters were super friendly and helpful. On the 4th they had a party at the shop with free BBQ and beer. Things got pretty rowdy in town that night, hopefully the locals retained all of their fingers.

The fishing was really tough. It sounds like they have been having the same heat wave that we were trying to escape from in SLC. The river was pretty warm and there's weeds and grass everywhere, floating on the surface. Somewhere around 75% of my casts came back with some form of shit on my fly. We aren't really morning people but I heard that if you were willing to get on the river at first light you had a much better chance at getting into some fish. Bugs were hatching all day. I was pretty amazed at all the different bug life on that river actually, fish have a ton of food to pick from, including large crawfish. I got broken off by a couple good size fish but none were put in the boat. On the last morning a cold front rolled it, it was raining and cool when I woke up so I grabbed the spey rod and finally got a nice, aggro rainbow while swinging through some faster water with a crawfish looking pattern. Then it was time to go home.

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I know this thread is supposed to be about how manly you feel with that big rod in your hands, but the last photo of the fireworks is schweet!

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Originally Posted by ghosthop

I know this thread is supposed to be about how manly you feel with that big rod in your hands, but the last photo of the fireworks is schweet!

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Whatever dude.

Sweet report man! The MO does hold an incredibly diverse array of bugs. When that thing gets that warm, I like to hunt carp.