Well, so far this spring, it’s been the story gone with the wind! I’m not talking a day or two of 15 to 25 mph winds. I’m talking consecutive days of 25 mph plus. This makes getting out on the water, especially the Missouri River a tad tough.

Wind does a few things to you on the river. The direction of the wind actually plays a really important part in how you approach things. Take the direction of the wind for example. A north wind speeds up the current, pushing water downstream at a faster clip. This will drop the water levels on you changing everything. A south wind will do the opposite raising the and changing things.

Wind in general makes reading the treacherous areas (this year more so with low water) of the river more difficult. Navigating out there this spring isn’t exactly easy. I’ve seen some guys really hung up this year and I am sure we will see more.

So between the crappy weather and the wind, I have managed to get a out a few times since coming home. I’ve been really busy trying to get a couple boats ready to guide out of also. However, we did see a few really encouraging things with the fish movement. I think we are on the very early edge of some fish pushing north into our river.

The water temps are hovering around 36 to 38 degrees. Once those hit around 40 we will see a drastic change in the fishes attitude. I feel we are definitely later for getting on the water, but conditions are more like two weeks early.

Reports are also coming in that Hazelton boat ramp (single lane) is very shallow getting out but is useable. I was also told a rumor the Corps was down there surveying the situation, and they may be bringing a dredging machine in to move some sand. Fort Rice ramp is very similar with very low water coming out after launching. No docks are in yet on any of the docks on the river. This never makes sense to me why they wait to slide those in on ramp?

All the town ramps including the Kimball Bottoms ramp are usable with caution and 4wd. So stay tuned on here for more updates! My open water guide season kicks off April 1st! So lots of reports coming your way!