Missouri River Fishing Report-April 26th, 2022

Written by Mike Peluso

April 25, 2022

It’s been a spring to remember. Actually, scratch that, it’s one to forget. For a lack of a better term, it’s been downright sh#%tty. I can only think of two days so far this spring, since the river opened up March 19th where it was nice out.

Of course this has been a battle for my guide business. I’ve had way too many weather cancellations. It’s just not fair for me to have folks come in and take them out when one, it’s crappy out. Two, it’s not what I call a guiders bite right now. Yes, I love to catch big fish! If you follow my social media pages, you will see a lot of pictures of big fish. However, this isn’t the actual target for me while guiding unless my clients specifically ask to try and catch a big one.

For me I’m looking for numbers and a lot of times the numbers are not where the bigger fish typically are. Not to mention, I would fish for the big fish differently. Large plastics and or creek chubs would be my main technique, if I was trying to target large fish. For numbers of fish a jig and a minnow is my bait of choice. In a week or two cranks will shine and when the lilacs bloom get the 1/8 oz jigs and half a crawler out.

With all the rain, snow, winds I would anticipate another slow down here. I was out all week checking on spots before the rain yesterday and fishing was good if you want to catch a big fish. If you are looking to fill a livewell this is not the time. 3 to 5 bites is all I could muster everyday this week. They were the right ones.

I’m hoping things settle in here this week and we rebound and fishing takes off again. I’m optimistic things are going to get better soon. Of course I’ll be reporting here so stay tuned!

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