Sunrise Fly Shop-Big Hole River Blog

The Big Hole has bounced back from the last recent bump in flows.  We have 2 feet of visibility, dropping water and the fish are looking up for Skwalas.  Our best dry fly fishing has been from Maiden Rock all the way to Notch Bottom.   Look for your best dry fly action to be from 1:00 to 6:00pm.  This week will be prime time for the Big Hole Skwala hatch.  Slow moving streamers have also been getting it done for us.  The best streamers of choice have been Coffee buggers, Natural Slap and tickles and Yellow/black beldars.     

Image of a Big Hole River Skwala

The Beaverhead River has been fishing ok as of lately.  Remember the river is closed from the Dam to Pipe Organ until the 3^rd Saturday in May.   We have had some dry fly fishing on the overcast days with Blue winged Olives.  Sow bugs under an indicator with a blue wing nymph has been keeping our rods bent.  Below Grasshopper we have been able to move some nice fish on streamers. 

Client Alan Elm with a nice 20 inch brown on the Beaverhead. 

 

Ryan and I both had a chance to float the Big Hole yesterday and do some fishing for ourselves. 

I launched at Jerry Creek, where two days before I had done a quick evening float and had phenomenal dry fly fishing with skwallas.  The fishing wasn't quite as consistent as it had been on the 3rd, but the wind with pummeling us with 20 to 30 MPH gusts, so casting to the right spots on the bank was a little difficult.  When we did get the fly up near the bank, we got fish to rise to our fly. 

Ryan and Chuck went up to Sportsman's and fished streamers for a few hours before sunset.  Luckily for the two of them, they didn't have to deal with the winds that I battled 15 miles down river.  In the short period of time that Ryan and Chuck were on the river, they did extremely well, landing 10 fish over 18 inches.

With continued cool weather in the 5-day forecast, it looks like we should see the fishing continue to be solid on top and sub-surface though the next week. 

*We'll keep you posted when we start to see Mother's Day Caddis* 

Over the weekend, we had our fist push of water.  On Monday the Big Hole climbed to a little over 2000 cfs, but the weather cooled off again and the river is back down to 1400cfs and the river is continuing to drop.  The water clarity has improved greatly in the last 48 hours, and we are back to about 2 feet of visibility.

Fish have still been coming up for Skwalla dries, but greater numbers of fish have been caught using nymphs.  Baetis nymphs, Stone Fly nymphs, and San Juan worms have still been the best nymphs. 

Remember, our spring special ends May 15^th.  $500.00 per person for three nights lodging and two days of guided fishing!

Warm weather this time of year in Southwest Montana always comes with some sacrifices…  A.K.A - a blown out river.  We had a great weekend of fishing with Skwalla dries as well as good streamer fishing, but we are now paying the price for our first taste of true spring weather.  The river has taken a hefty jump in flows due to the two days of warm weather that we had.  The good news, if you can call it good news, is that it is snowing and cold again.  The upper river near Wisdom has already started to drop and we should see the rest of the river start to drop in the next 24 hours.  The river should start to fish again either tomorrow or Wednesday.  The clarity will come back as soon as it drops, and the fishing will get back to where it was. 

 

 

Everything here on the Big Hole seems to be staying about the same.  The weather pattern seems to be holding steady with daily highs in the high 40’s and lows in the mid 20’s.  The mountains have been getting moisture almost every day, but the river valley has been staying relatively dry.

For fishing this means that we have been seeing, and will probably continue to see about the same conditions.  The river flows are getting a nightly bump, but dropping during the daytime hours and averaging around 1200 cfs.  The river temps are ranging between 37 degrees and 45 degrees.  We’ve still been getting fish to come up and eat Skwallas with good frequency, while the nymphing with Stone Fly Nymphs, San Juan Worms, and small Mayfly Nymphs has been very consistent.  We’ve also noticed that the fish have been chasing streamers a little more aggressively in the last few days.

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

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!   

First busy Saturday here at the Sunrise Fly Shop.  After another winter storm, the weather is warming up nicely here this morning.  The warmer weather has brought people out of the house.  Highs in the mid forties and warming up to 50 by monday will get the fishing back on track.  Look for Skwala dry fly fishing to be good in the afternoons on the Big Hole River.  The hatch has just started on the lower river.  We have been getting them on top on the lower river.  Skwalas have not been hatching above Melrose yet.  Nymphing will be solid in the tailouts of runs and on the soft banks.  Our Big Hole River guides are off the river today but Sam Wyke is here this weekend.  Sam is one of the owners of the Big R Fly Shop up in Great Falls, Montana.  This is a great fly shop and good guys in the industry.     

Everyone knows the feeling, the itch to experience the first dry fly fishing of the year on Southwest Montana freestone rivers.  The first spring hatch, a.k.a. some of the best dry fly fishing of the year is the Big Hole River Skwala hatch. 

 

The Skwala stonefly makes it’s appearance as spring and the end of winter collide.  On the Big Hole River this is around mid-April.  As the ice breaks free from the freestone rivers and water warms between 45-48 degrees for a consistent period of time, skwalas start to migrate to the banks of the Big Hole River to hatch.  The Skwala is a size #8-#10 stonefly with an olive colored body.  Like most stoneflies, Skwalas crawl onto rocky and brushy banks to hatch.  Unlike most stoneflies though Skwalas rarely fly in the air.  These stoneflies tend to crawl across the water when they lay their eggs.  Skwalas are hard to see in the water as they skitter with there wings closed on the surface.  Trout in the 16 - 22 inch range are taken on the dry fly during this hatch.

Since this is the first hatch of the year with a sizable meal, trout tend to key into Skwalas pretty quickly.  These stoneflies are not in the same abundance on the Big Hole as Golden Stones or Salmonflies on the Big Hole, but there are enough of them to make for some great dry fly fishing.  This is a great time to experience trout feeding with fury, as they eat their first stoneflies of the season.