GREAT FALLS AREA FISHING REPORT
Ocotber 29, 2025
Lower Mo
Missouri River Pelican Point Down
Dam Temps: 51.4°
Cascade CFS: 3,000
Ulm CFS: 3,160
Morony Dam CFS: 3,640
Fort Benton CFS: 3,450
BWOs are still popping here and there. When you find them you’ll find fish feeding. Them. Middle afternoon to evening seems to be the ticket. If you get out early there are fish to be nymphed up. Throwing the typical bugs: sows, scuds, wire worms and trail those with a small Baetis nymph or flashy smaller attractor. Flies that I find effective include:
Dries
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May Day # 17 or 19
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CDC Comparadun # 18
Nymphs
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Fred Telleen’s IMPT # 18 Black
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Patrick Kilby’s Rain Drop # 16
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Kris Keller’s PLT Nymph # 18, 20
If dries aren’t your thing, swinging larger, leechy patterns or soft hackles has found me fish. I’m targeting water that has transitional points (shallow to deep, deep to shallow, choppy water, or water dumping into slack). I’m throwing a Skagit head on our Saga 6122 and a Scandi on our Saga 4114. Fishing water appropriate to either system is key, or throwing heads that provide the correct assistance to the flies is crucial. I am running a 5 float x 5 sink or a 7.5 x 2.5 MOW tip on my 6-weight, or an Airflo Poly 10 foot 1.5 ips for my soft hackles. Flies I find effective:
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Soft Hackles in a variety of colors, typically smaller # 14–18
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Stinging Smolt # 4
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Montana Intruder and the Mini
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She Demon Bugger Olive # 6
As you head further downriver, streamers are the name of the game. If I’m running streamers for a trophy brown below Cascade, typically I will be in a boat. Unless you have a jet boat to run, you’ll find Cascade to Ulm is a long float in a raft or drift boat. Staying lower on the river, down below Black Eagle, there are plenty of participants to be caught if you are not trying to stray too far from Great Falls — or, like me, you need a lunch-break hookup. Down there, I’m throwing on a floating-line and a streamer that presents great movement without a ton of weight. Streamers for Cascade to down below Black Eagle for trout:
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Mini Boogie Man Olive
I have been hearing a ton of reports on those toothy critters below Cascade. Running bright colors is the best way to grab their attention. Fish a heavy fly on a float or intermediate line, or a light fly on a heavy line. I have been hearing most reports coming from the 5–10 foot depth range on the river, so use your favorite combination of fly and line to get down to the desirable range. They are not super deep in the water column. Hitting those shallow back eddies or sloughs is what you want to do. We have a great selection of pike flies in shop, but online flies for pike include:
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Paolo Pacchiarini’s Discovery Baitfish Yellow/Chart
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Mini Musky Glider Yellow/Orange
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Articulated Synthetic Bulkhead Red/White
For those going below Morony Dam, the smallmouth bass game has been popping. Light sink-tips and hitting runs where concentration points intersect seems to be the ticket. Bass are ambush predators and love hitting flies they think are in distress. Working streamers with the tip of the rod and articulating them in a way that shows they need to be eaten is important. Smallmouth flies:
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Sculperino Olive and Natural
Stillwater
As air temps cool, our favorite stillwater options heat up. I’ve been ripping streamer stuff using sinking tips or full sinking lines. No need to be up and fishing before the sun; let the water warm and find the fish seeking their next meal. I know Holter has been ramping up, and several of the lakes out on the Front are fishing well, too.
Late fall stillwater is a great way to fish from shore, as cooling water pulls trout up from the depths where they start to cruise the shoreline looking for meals before the lakes freeze.
Bobber dogging with Balanced Leeches has been working. I’ve been hearing some fish movement up by the gates, Running Balanced Leeches is good right now for stationary fishing. Whether in a boat or from shore, throwing a bobber rig on windless day is the ticket. Giving it twitches, pauses, and long, slow pulls gets the fishes’ attention. On windier days let it rock in the breeze.
If you head to the gates you may find kokanee running and they can be caught. Fishing for late season spawning Kokanee might not provide the most tasteful fish, but they sure do make great fun. Throwing streamers that are bright in color seems to do the trick. Think Jigged and fluorescent.
Also, throwing flies in a snappy way to get reaction strikes can be key. As it gets colder the hatches wane and the fish cruise the edges trying to eat whatever they can before the open water is gone. Flies for fall stillwater:
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Pitching Leech # 10 Olive, Claret
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BMW Brown/Dark Olive
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Thin Mint # 6, 10
MISSOURI RIVER WEATHER FORECAST
OTHER REPORTS WE LIKE TO FOLLOW
Missouri River fishing reports aren't always the same. One stretch of the river may fish better than others which is why we like to check a number of different fishing reports from other shops in the area. We've gathered our favorite fishing report sources in the links below.