Winter Fishing on the Upper Missouri

If you can stand frozen anchor lines and arranging your own shuttle, drifting Montana’s Upper Missouri River in winter can be a great experience. Ryan Casne, who’d drop everything to float the Missouri in cold weather, ties and uses flies that resemble the tiny crustaceans that proliferate in big tailwaters. “While dexterously threading a 5X tippet through the eye of a homemade nymph, Casne advises me, ‘Think pink.’ His patterns for winter resemble tiny fresh water shrimp, or scuds, or even smaller silvery nymphs, all adorned in flamboyant pink.” Chad Trettin on Helenair.com.