Winter Trout Spey Paradise
River of the Day: Missouri River near Craig Montana
Stream flow approximately 4,200cfs
Water Temp approximately 35 degrees
Air Temp pushing 50 degrees.
Anglers: Matt Gutzmann and Fred Telleen
The Spey Rods of the Day:
Launching the Echo Classic 6126
Matt was throwing his Echo Classic 6126 Spey with 450 grain Airflo Skagit Compact and medium RIO MOW tips. This is his first set up and he is just learning to spey cast, but you would not know it. He is launching it out there and getting great swings. I picked it up and flung a few casts. The Echo Classic is smooth and a very nice casting rod.
Sage One 4116 Trout Spey Bliss
I was throwing a Sage One 4116 Switch with 275 grain Beulah Elixir Scandi and a 13’ hand tied leader. Wow. This set up is really fun. I think this is going to be my favorite for low water winter time trout spey fly swinging.
The Dirty Nympher: While swinging flies was our main game, there were a few spots just begging to be probed with nymphs on the end of my old reliable Sage Z-Axis 6110 with RIO Grand 8wt Line. Matt was impressed with the effectiveness of this rig. We used it sparingly, but it produced prodigiously.
Rainbrown
The Flies of the Day for swinging were our Polar Express Minnow patterns in a variety of colors. My favorite was straight pearl with a little olive accent, while Matt was throwing some darker bunny topped versions. Our nymphing set up consisted of an oncorhynchus omelet with a size 18 orange soft hackle dropper.
Beer of the Day
The Beer of the Day was Grain Belt Premium courtesy of Matt’s wife by way of a recent trip back to Minnesota. The last time I had a Grain Belt was on a road trip from Wisconsin to Jackson Hole Wyoming during a college spring break. Our power snack of the day was the intrepid snickers bar.
Quote of the Day from Matt: “Just got another nice *rainbrown.”
*If you are wondering what a rainbrown is, you should meet Hank Patterson. He will also explain the brownbow and how to execute a proper cast… snap it, snap it, snap it and splash it. He’s haunting about water.
