Missouri River Fishing Report, June 19, 2026

2026-06-19 (June 19, 2026)

Summary

At a glance: ~3,000 to 3,160 CFS at Holter Dam, dropping | 56 to 58°F | good clarity, tribs recovered | PMD and caddis prime, PMDs thinner than usual, Tricos on deck | Unsettled weather, mid-60s to 80°F over the next ten days

Plan around the boat traffic. This is the busiest month of the year, and the put-ins and take-outs are stacked at peak hours. Go early or go late, give wade fishers a wide berth, and be patient at the ramps. Headhunters: "Lots of boats out there. Lots."

A wet, cool stretch through June 17 and 18 (sleet, hail, and rain) reset the river after the warm-up earlier in the month. Flows below Holter Dam are holding around 3,160 CFS and continuing to ease back toward summer levels; water temps are 56°F at the dam and 58°F midday downstream, warm enough for wet wading. The added moisture and the cloud cover have been welcome news for the bugs and have pushed hatch start times a little later in the day, with PMDs and PEDs typically popping around noon on cloudy days and closer to 10:00 a.m. on bright ones.

The honest read on the hatch is mixed. The dry fly fishing is the headline event, but the orchestra is still tuning: Headhunters is calling it "a mediocre PMD so far," with good action during the daily hatch window (roughly 9:30 to 1:30) but not the heavy daily flurries or the one great spinner fall we would usually expect by mid-June. Caddis are decent but not over the top either, with the best evening activity in the canyon and fluttering adults on the water toward dusk. The grass is greener for combinations of caddis pupa and PMD nymph than for any one bug fished alone. The PMD and caddis prime window should hold for another couple of weeks, and Headhunters is already calling for Tricos "soon."

Best techniques

• Nymphing, the workhorse. The worm and sowbug combo remains the morning opener, especially on the upper river: roughly 5 feet to the first bug over gravel bottoms in 4 to 6 feet of water. Switch to smaller PMD and caddis nymphs once the bugs start coming off around 10 to 11. The long rig with a wire worm over a mayfly nymph is still producing well, and a short leash rig of two Split Case PMD has been "exceptionally effective" per the Trout Shop. Plan to pick through whitefish, especially early.
• Dry fly, the main event with caveats. Fish look up in numbers when the bugs come, but they are educated and the hatches are spotty day to day. Cycle through duns, cripples, and spinners before walking away from a riser; persistence is cheaper than the drive home. A Hi-Vis Rusty Spinner over rising pods has been the go-to, and a Corn-Fed Caddis with a PMD emerger dropped behind it is the durable two fly setup. Do not skip caddis patterns at midday even when nothing is on the water yet.
• Soft hackles. Late morning to early afternoon is swing time: drop a soft hackle into the column when fish are swirling below the surface. Hit or miss, but on the right day it is a sleeper.
• Streamers, better with the clouds back. The "anemic insect bite" has Headhunters reaching for the meaty alternative. Leeches have fished well on light line or intermediate tips fished with purpose. Cross Currents is still calling the darker purples and blacks first, then sparkle olive, yellow, and brown. Target banks, gravel bar drop-offs, and mid-river buckets, and get the streamer days in before the weeds come up in a couple of weeks.

Hatches

PMDs and caddis continue to anchor the menu, with PEDs joining the PMDs midday on the upper river and a few PMD spinners showing in the evenings (though no great single spinner fall yet). The early arriving PMD hatch from late May and early June has held on through the cool stretch but is not producing the heavy daily flurries the shops expect by now. Tricos are on the horizon ("soon" per Headhunters), the next section waiting to take its chair. Background midges are still around morning and evening.

The Fly Box

Nymphs: Split Case PMD, Red Bead Duracell, Frenchie, Green Machine, Little Green Machine, Tailwater Sowbug, Wire Worm, Worms, Sows, Brown Perdigons, Zirdle, Two Hot PMD, PMD Magic Fly, Redemption, Gold Lightning Bug, Doc's Summer Bug, Purple Weight Fly, Tung Darts, UV Czech Caddis, Blow Torch, Pheasant Tails

Emergers: Sprouts, CDC Emergers, Last Chance Cripples, Flash Cripples, PMD Soft Hackle, Edible Emerger, Film Critic PMD

Dries: Hi-Vis Rusty Spinner, Rusty Spinners, Corn-Fed Caddis, Missing Link PMD/Caddis, Sparkle Dun, D&D Cripple, Double Duck Caddis, Stockingfoot Caddis, Elkhair classics, Hatchbacks, Buzzballs, Party On Top, Hi-Vis Caddis

Streamers: Kreelex, Sparkly Minnow, Thin Mint Bugger, Sex Dungeon, Lil Kim, Skiddish Smolt, Gamechanger, Leeches

Outlook. The next ten days look unsettled, with highs in the mid-60s to 80°F and continued chances for rain and storms. That is helpful weather: cooler, cloudier days stretch the hatch out and keep the dry fly window from collapsing into a single peak week. Flows should keep easing toward summer levels. Tricos are on deck to add to the morning menu before the month is out, and the streamer bite should stay on while the cloud cover holds and the weeds stay down. Pack rain gear and sunscreen alike.

Sources and Thanks

Shop	Report date	Coverage
Headhunters Fly Shop	June 18, 2026	Missouri (Craig)
The Trout Shop	June 18, 2026	Missouri (Craig)
Cross Currents Fly Shop	June 8, 2026	Missouri (Craig, 11 days stale)
Wolf Creek Angler	June 4, 2026	Missouri (Wolf Creek, 15 days stale)