The Missouri River and Craig, Montana, are two of our favorite places. We were introduced to the river by Bozeman friends Sue Doss and Dud Lutton. So, while we’ve fished the Missouri before, this was our official “River Ramble” guide trip on the river.
We pulled into Craig at 8:30 on a beautiful, cool Saturday morning. The forecast for the day was excellent, so, it wasn’t a surprise that Craig was bustling. Trucks with drift boats were everywhere and anglers were anxiously waiting to meet their guides and get on the river. We met our guide, Shane Wilson, at the Headhunters Fly Shop, one of three in Craig. Once we got the paperwork completed, we were off to the river.
We put in at Craig which was new to us, as we’d always embarked from just below Holter Dam. It was also kind of fun, given that we simply had to drive about 100 feet from Headhunters, past the one “sit down” restaurant, Izaaks, to the water, get in the drift boat, and head off. At lunch, we interviewed Shane, on his drift boat, as we’d dropped anchor on one of the many islands that dot the river, many of which this time of year have geese on them (as you can hear in the interview).
Please click the video above to hear Shane describe why this river is so very special.