Fishing "Land of the Giants" on the Upper MIssouri River" SEP 2025

 Fly Fishing the West

Vol. 32, Issue 1

Sept. 11-14, 2025

Missouri River (Land of the Giants) Sept. 12,13, Helena, Montana 

Friday, Saturday, Sept. 12, 13, 2025—Todd, Nelson and Erika Geary (Todd’s daughter and son-in-law) and I drove each morning about 8 am north of Helena to “Gates of the Mountains” Marina on Upper Holter Lake which is below Hauser Dam on the Missouri River. This is a part of the Missouri River which is very scenic and inaccessible by motorized vehicle. It has steep cliffs mixed with pine and fir trees. The cliffs have many caves and rock formations. It also has ancient petroglyphs of buffaloes at one place in the canyon wall.

From the marina we took jet boats upriver to Hauser Dam, an area known as “Land of the Giants” We nymphed the stretch of the river from below the dam drifting about ¼ mile downstream then repeated this run travelling back upriver. The pole rig was a small bobber near the end of the fly line, then about 5 feet of leader to a swivel with a small shot sinker just above the swivel. From the swivel was about 4 feet of tippet (guessing maybe 5x (5 lb. test)] to a size 8 bead-head wooly bugger. Attached to this fly was a size 18 “green machine” or similar fly on 2 feet of tippet. The fish we caught normally took the lower small fly. Todd and I were in one boat and Nelson and Erica in another with a guide that worked for Trent (Bradley on Friday and Jamie on Saturday). 

On both days we caught about 10 fish in each boat. Friday morning, I caught two rainbows, one measured 23”. It ran pulling line for about 30 feet before getting it turned around. (See picture below, this fish was a wild rainbow.). In the afternoon Todd caught a large brown (see picture below). It too ran a ways away from the boat. When both of these fish got near the boat they would swim under the boat to the other side. Todd had another large fish on, but his line got caught in the oar lock on the boat and the line broke. I did catch another rainbow late in the afternoon that I believe was larger (at least heavier) than the 23” fish in the morning. Brad (our guide) netted the fish, got it in the boat, then when we were lifting it to take a picture it flopped out of our hands, onto a seat in the boat, then overboard before I could get a picture. Brad felt bad about that. I told him not to worry. Now, I have good reason to return another year to try again. 

On Saturday we returned to the same place on the river. In the morning we again drifted just below the dam. Todd caught five or six here. I had a good-sized fish on that ran upstream and was lost. I did catch a brown about 19-20”. In the afternoon we moved downstream to the lake area across from the marina. There Todd caught 4 or 5 rainbows, one maybe 20”. I caught 2 rainbows. Each day we returned to the marina about 4 pm. 

NOTE: I have made fishing trips to “land of the giants” on the upper Missouri River 3-4 times since 2018. They are not recorded in this blog. Each time was a great trip and never disappointing. This surely is one of the best locations in the world to experience the best of earth’s creations. 

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The weather was very nice in Montana. It was mostly warm and sunny (72 F high). It was cooler on Saturday and rained slightly about 4 pm as we were leaving.
2. The water in the Missouri has a green tinge to it and tiny green bits of algae floating in the water. (YouTube videos show the Land of the Giants water to be quite clear during other parts of the year.)
3. We saw bald eagles in the canyon.
4. The trip was very memorable with Trent Brown and his associate guides. We would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a Montana fishing guide. They are some of best at what they do, for sure. Also staying with Rachelle, his sister, was very nice as well. (She runs a bed and breakfast/over-night stay business (SageDog Inn Airbnb in Helena, MT.)
5. A non-resident Montana fishing license in 2018 was $35 for a two-day license. For this trip it was $51 for two days.

Regarding this part of the Upper Missouri River (upstream from Holter Dam), on July 19, 1805 Meriwether Lewis (Lewis and Clark) on their way to the Pacific Ocean recorded in his journal, “…we entered [much] the most remarkable cliffs that we have seen. These cliffs rise from the water’s edge perpendicularly to a height of 1,200 feet…the towering and projecting rocks…seemed ready to tumble on us. For a distance of 5¼ miles [the river is] deep from side to side nor it there in the first 3 miles…a spot…on which a man could rest the soal of his foot… From the singular appearance of this place I called it the ‘gates of the rocky mountains’..”.  Lewis was also within a couple of hours march from one of the great gold deposits [in the west], Last Chance Gulch, near Helena, Montana…. But they were not looking for gold. As far as Lewis and Jefferson were concerned, animals, not minerals, were the great wealth of the Rocky Mountains. They caught cutthroat trout, encountered buffalo, deer, large elk, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, beavers, otter, cranes, geese, red-breasted mergansers and curlews, ‘and a great number of snakes’. They were hampered by prickly-pear cactus, numberous  bothersome ‘musquetoes’, and ‘needle grass, an invention of the devil, consisting of barbed seeds which “penetrate our mockersons and leather legings..”.  On July 27, they arrived at Three Forks where the Missouri split into the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallitin Rivers.” (Source: Undaunted Courage- Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West, by Stephen E. Ambrose, pages 252-258.)