Sunrise Fly Shop-Big Hole River Blog

The upper Beaverhead River opens this Saturday.  I was on the river yesterday and we floated Pipe Organ to Barretts.  The river fished very well sub surface with Micro Mayflies and San Juan Worms.  The Caddis are out but fish were not keying into the dry fly very well.  Grasshopper Creek is running muddy but should clear up due to the cool down we are having.  Check with us for up to date information on the clarity.  Opening weekend should be stellar fishing up by the dam.  Let our Beaverhead River Guides show you the best fishing in Southwest Montana.   

Opening Day Special 3nights lodging and 2 days of guided fishing for just $500.00 per person May 21st - June 10th. 

Good Weather today.  Should be a nice Spring day to be on the Big Hole.  We are still sticking to the stretches below Melrose right now.  It is just to darn cold up the river.  I went for a drive last night to check it out up there and it seems like February on the upper Big hole.  With a Montana snowpack of 120% we are going to have excellent water this year on the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers.  We are floating in our drift boats on every stretch below Melrose with good Skwala dry fly action and the nymphing and streamer fishing has been solid.  Look for the Skwala hatch heating up this week as water temperatures reach 45-47 degrees.  2 -3 feet of visability right now.  

Remember our spring special ends May 15th.  $500.00 for 3nights lodging and 2 days of guided fishing!   

Winter has been harsh in Southwest Montana this year.  Plenty of snow with bitterly cold temperatures.  The snowpack in looking great for this years fishing season.  The Big Hole / Beaverhead drainages are @ 109% snowpack for this date in time, and we still have another couple months to gain more snow in the high country.  The big story this winter has been the ice jams on the rivers.  The Big Hole River, Beaverhead River, Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin Rivers have all had major ice jamming events this winter.  This has created some low valley flooding at times, and scouring of the banks and rivers.  Last week a rancher on the Big Hole River lost several cows due to a break in the ice, the cattle fell through and were lost to the frozen river.  

Day time temperatures are now getting above freezing which is starting to break up the ice on our rivers.  We will start to get some days of productive fishing later this month.  With the healthy snowpack we are looking ahead to another great late summer fishing season.  August will be filled with great terrestrial hopper fishing with good water flows.  August has been an overlooked month of Southwest Montana fishing in high water years.  Take advantage of this in 2011, our Big Hole River guides and Beaverhead River guides will make a memorable fishing trip for you!