Goodbye to Hoot Owl Closures

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Great news on the Big Hole today, the entire Big Hole River is open to fishing 24 hours a day. All Hoot Owl Closures have been uplifted on the entire Big Hole River. Flows remain in good shape after some great rain storms and some snow in the upper elevations of our mountains. You will have good Trico fishing in the morning. The Trico’s have been hatching around 9:30 in the morning. In the afternoons we have been throwing small hoppers with some good success. We have also had good nymph fishing in the shallow riffles in the afternoons. We have not seen any Spruce Moth’s yet on the Big Hole. Parachute Hoppers and #16 droppers have worked in the afternoons quite well.

Flies:   #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

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We have had a nice bump in flows due to rain in the upper Big Hole Valley.

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We have had a nice bump in flows due to rain in the upper Big Hole Valley. Dry fly fishing has picked back up on the Big Hole. We have Trico’s hatching in the morning. In fact we have blizzard amounts of Tricos’s hatching in the morning. The Spinner falls have been amazing with plenty of pods of fish up and eating. In the afternoons we have been moving to hopper/dropper rigs and it has been pretty good. Water temperatures have been staying in great shape with the cooler weather we have had. Fish have been moving to eat streamers in the shallow riffles and a Pat’s stone with a dropper has been working well in the afternoons. We have not had any Spruce Moth sightings yet but if they are going to happen we should see them in the next 15 days. Fishing Hoot Owl closures have changed so please follow this link to check them out. Hoot Owl restrictions have been lifted on the upper Big Hole.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:   #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

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Beaverhead River Fishing Great

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Flows out of Clark Canyon are dropping but they have stabilized at 600cfs. We have had great fishing from the Dam down to High Bridge. You will find PMD’s hatching in the mornings with a nice spinner fall in the slick.  Nymphing has been consistent with #18 Split Back PMD’s and #18 Crack Back PMD’s. Some basic nymphs have been working like #18 Pheasant Tails and tan Scuds. We have not had the Yellow Sally hatch this year that we have all been used to on the Beaverhead. We are not sure why but the bugs are not out in the numbers we have seen in the past. Our Beaverhead guides have had great fishing lately and it should continue all week. Our shop is equipped with all the hot Beaverhead bugs, stop in for advice and tactics. 

Flies: #14 Rollin’ Stone Sally; #18 Comparadun; #16 Rusty Spinner #16 Stimulator Yellow; #16 CDC PMD;#18 Split Back PMD Olive/Brown; #18 Pheasant Tail; #18 psycho Mayfly; #18 Mustang Sally; #18 Kyle’s Sally; #18 Captive Dun

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Cool and wet weather has helped the fishing dramatically lately.

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Cool and wet weather has helped the fishing dramatically lately. The cloud cover has also helped the dry fly fishing and streamer fishing on the Big Hole. You will find some PMD’s in the morning in specific locations, other than that the hatches are bleak right now. Streamer fishing has been fantastic. We have been doing well with a mini loop sculpin in Olive or Tan. In the canyon a small Pat’s stone dropper has been doing well in the shallow riffles.  Enjoy the cold water and hard fighting trout right now. Air temperatures are supposed to remain in the 70’s and afternoon showers are expected daily. You still need to follow the Hoot Owl closures in the specific locations. Here is the news on the Hoot Owl closures in Montana. 
Flies:   #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

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Beaverhead River Fishing Report

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The Beaverhead River fishing report from out guides have been nothing but great lately. The hatches have finally started to get the fish looking up. You will find hatches of PMD’s and Sallies during the day and Caddis in the evenings. The flows are high right now on the Beaverhead, which will make for tough wading right now but great drift boat fishing. We have had good dry fly fishing in the slick and good dry fly fishing below high bridge and down to Grasshopper boat ramp. You will not find solitude on the Beaverhead right now but don’t worry their are plenty of fish for everyone on the Beaverhead.

Flies: #14 Rollin’ Stone Sally; #18 Comparadun; #16 Rusty Spinner #16 Stimulator Yellow; #16 CDC PMD;#18 Split Back PMD Olive/Brown; #18 Pheasant Tail; #18 psycho Mayfly; #18 Mustang Sally; #18 Kyle’s Sally; #18 Captive Dun

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We are having a great cool down in air temperatures and water temperatures this week.

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We are having a great cool down in air temperatures and water temperatures this week. Day time highs have been in the mid 70’s to low 80’s, which is normal for this time of year. Fishing has been good lately but technical at times. You will have PMD’s and Yellow Sallies hatching. Our morning dry fly fishing has been good with Rocky Mountain Mint’s #16 and Comparaduns. In the afternoons we have moved to a #12 chubby with a variety of droppers working lately. #12 Psycho Mayflies, #14 Superflash Pheasant Tails, and #14 Red Copper John’s have been our best droppers lately. You will also find some nice fish eating larger stonefly nymphsin the fast riffles and tan colored streamers.

Remember the Hoot Owl closures that are in Place on the Big Hole. the entire Big Hole River except from Dickey Bridge to Maiden Rock FAS is closed from 2:00pm to midnight daily. So realistically you are able to fish from dawn till 2:00pm. Dickey Bridge to Maiden Rock FAS gives you over 30 miles of fishable water that is open 24 hours a day. 

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Big Hole River Guide Shawn Bechtol getting clients on some nice trout lately

Flies:   #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnoe Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker

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It will be a hot 4th of July, but a nice cool down is in the forecast for Sunday and into next week.

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It will be a hot 4th of July, but a nice cool down is in the forecast for Sunday and into next week. Hoot Owl closures are in effect today on many Southwest Montana and Western Montana Rivers and the Big Hole is no exception. Starting today the entire Big Hole River except from Dickey Bridge to Maiden Rock FAS is closed from 2:00pm to midnight daily. So realistically you are able to fish from dawn till 2:00pm.

Fishing has been very good for our Big Hole River guides. We have been leaving the shop early and the dry fly fishing at dawn is fantastic. You will have a good PMD hatch around 8:00 am. After the PMD hatch we have been nymphing the riffles with small #16 Red Copper John’s, #16 Shimmer nymphs, and #16 Pheasant tail’s. Hopper fishing is not long off as we are seeing some good adult hoppers in the grass banks. Set the alarm clock early and hit the water before the warm up.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:  #10 Rogue Stone #10 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker

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