Do you think you have a better chance to catch a trophy trout in a steel water or in a stream?

And are you interested in finding out how to get to the right depth on a fish every time so you have more action on the water this year?

Today we are heading into the land of giants and you're going to get some amazing tips on fishing, one of the great tailwaters out west. This is the wet fly swing podcast where I show you the best places to travel to for fly fishing, how to find the best resources and tools to prepare for that big trip, and what you can do to give back to the fish species we all love. Hey, what's happening today? This is Dave, host of the wet fly swing podcast. I've been fly fishing since I was a little kid. I grew up around a little

fly shop and have created one of the largest fly fishing podcast in this country. I've also

interviewed more of the greatest fly anglers and outfitters than just about anyone out there.

Jeff Ladig, Missouri River Guide and Outfitter is going to show us how to fish rivers and the

reservoirs in the Great Missouri area. You're going to find out how to catch fish in the middle of winter and what the number one color is you have to have of your fish in the winter. If you're heading out there today, this is the color we're going to talk about today. Plus, you're going to find out how to avoid a sloppy mend, how to present that fly, and what the short leash nimp method is all about this might surprise you today the short leash nymph method

plus we're going to take you up the river on a jet sled and fish back down in the quiet comfort and experience the big moe

let's find out why we need to leave it in the water longer jeff laddigg from living water guide.com. How you doing, Jeff? I'm doing

fantastic. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for setting some time aside today to dig into, you know,

the Missouri River. We've been talking a little about the Missouri. We've been up and around Helena,

you know, this year I actually drove through there. We stopped in and had a, had a beverage and hung out a bit. And yeah, we're excited because I think I'm going to be doing more in that area. So today we're going to talk the Missouri is, I think, your focus. So we're going to talk Missouri River and just kind of throughout the year what you're doing out there. So first off, yeah, how are things going? What are you up to this time of year? We're in the holiday season. Yeah, so things are, well, yeah, kind of booking season for us. So, yeah, a little bit of office time kind of playing catch up on, you know, recording trips with the board of outfitters and, you know, gathering W-9s from guides and booking trips. And then when we can break away, we're doing a little bit of fishing,

but mostly chasing upland birds. Yeah, good. I love that. I think there's a lot of hunters in our audience. And, you know, I'm not sure how many, but quite a few. And I love upland bird. It's been a while. What's that look like out there? Are you hunting, do you have to drive far to get some upland?

Yeah, so really, you know, the Helen area,

so it really, you know,

the helen area, so it really just depends on, on what's targeting. So, you know, five minutes from my house, actually, you know, in my backyard, we've got mountain grouse, which, you know, fall under the rough grouse, blue grouse and spruce grouse, and then, you know, we can drive a little further towards the prairie and get into pheasants in hungarian partridge and sharptale grouse

nice spruce grouse and then, you know, we can drive a little further towards the prairie and get

into pheasants and Hungarian partridge and sharptale grouse. Nice. So yeah, I mean, that's another thing out there. And we'll talk about this as we go because I think there's a lot of things to do out there, especially, I mean, the wintertime. So the cold weather in Montana isn't slowing you down for hunting at all?

Yeah, you know, so we had a really, I mean, so far it's been really, really mild.

We haven't had a lot of snow. I mean, there's a little bit of snow at elevation. We haven't had much snow and we haven't had any brutal cold. So yeah, we've been able to get out and recreate. And I, you know, went for a little hunt yesterday. And it was 45 degrees and sunny, no wind. And I'm like, man, probably should have went fishing today. But no, our weather's been really, really nice. So, you know, kind of the other side of the coin is getting nervous, like, man, we need some snow. You know, we need some snow. Does it stay in our rivers? So hopefully, uh, wind will show up here soon. Yeah, definitely. Well, let's talk about the Missouri.

Maybe let's just start with, I know you fish mostly during the typical season, which would be, you know, after the springtime, you know, throughout the summer. And the Missouri is known for, you know, a lot, a lot of fish, a lot of big fish and all that. So we're going to talk about that. but what does it look like this time of year? So let's just say it's mid-January. You're in January and you

weren't doing a guide trip, but you were going. You had a day. Maybe talk about that, but what does it look like this time of year? So let's just say it's mid-January. You're in January and you weren't doing a guide trip, but you were going, you had a day, maybe talk about that. What does the day have to look like to get out there in the water and say the wintertime? Yeah, so it would really depend on the client, whether we were doing the land of giant section in the jet boat or we were doing what we constitute as a lower river which is below Holterdamdam. But, you know, for the most part, you know, a little bit later starts, you know, probably launch at 930 or 10, just let the sun get up just a little bit. And yeah, we're targeting that real slow, deep winter water, you know, this time of year as far as bugs, we're, we're fishing a lot of junk flies, you know, pink stuff, sowbugs. You know, that's kind of the deal. Sal bugs and scuds, worms, just anything pink, really, they eat. You know, and then if there's no wind, we can get some pretty darn good midge fishing for dry fly fishing. And why is pink the secret color in the winter? It's a Missouri River thing.

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