Similar good news to report on the Big Hole.

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Similar good news to report on the Big Hole. Trico’s, PMD’s and some Drakes hatching on the river lately. Your most dependable hatch right now is the Trico Hatch. You will find a great spinner fall around 10:30 a.m. In the afternoon we have been throwing ant patterns, hoppers, and nymphs. Your best nymphs in your box are #10 Pat’s Stone’s, #18 Micro Mayflies and #18 and Psycho Mayflies. Streamers have also been working well in the riffles. Our favorite streamers have been Mini Loop sculpins and Copper Zonkers.

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #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

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

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Fishing has stayed pretty consistent on the Big Hole.

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Fishing has stayed pretty consistent on the Big Hole. We are having a nice Trico hatch around 10:00 a.m. and you will also find PMD’s and some drakes around in the late morning. In the afternoons we have been throwing, ants, hoppers and nymphs. Some of our best nymphs lately have been #18 Silver lightning bugs, #16 Psycho Mayflies, and #10 Pat’s Stone’s. Flow remain below normal, which is great for the wade angler and tough for the float fisherman. Our Big Hole River guides are still getting down the river in rafts as we remain in below normal flows for this time of year. Cold night time temperatures have the trout feeding well for the entire day.

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #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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Say Goodbye to Hoot Owl Closures

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Hoot Owl Closures will lift on 8/21. You will be able to fish 24 hours a day from below the North Fork all the way down to Notch Bottom. So you have over 80 miles of river to fish. Below Notch Bottom on the Big Hole is closed due to low flows, which is the very lower end of the Big Hole. We have had good Trico fishing and some flying ant fishing in the afternoons. Some afternoons have been thick with ants. Nymphing and streamer fishing the fast riffles have also produced some good activity lately for large fish. Flows remain low but the angler can still do well on the Big Hole.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #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 has been fishing very tough lately. Clark Canyon Reservoir has a dirty outflow and the river is rather mossy. It has been a tough prospect up there, hopefully it improves. You will find hatches of Tricos and PMD’s. The lower Beaverhead River has been fishing well with hoppers. Outflows of Clark Canyon is currently 301cfs. You will do best on the upper Beaverhead River if you fish the  3 foot riffles so you don’t collect moss on your nymphs.

Flies: #18 Hunchback;  #18 Zebra Midge; #18 Trico Spinner;#18 Trico Comparadun; #16 Rusty Spinner; #16 CDC PMD;#18 Split Back PMD Olive/Brown; #18 Pheasant Tail; #18 psycho Mayfly; #18 Captive Dun ; #6 Fat Albert; #6 Parachute Hopper; #6 Morrish Hopper

 

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Trico Report

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Over the last several days, the Trico fishing has been fantastic.  The hatches have been happening on the entire river, and some very nice fish have been coming up and eating these tiny mayflies.  To be perfectly honest, the whitefish have also been very active, but if you take your time, identify, and target the sipping trout, you can have a phenomenal day of trout fishing.  If technical dry fly fishing isn’t your thing, throwing a tan or olive streamer in the fast riffles has also been very effective.

Below is a nice brown that was caught on an olive streamer in the Maiden Rock Canyon.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Macjhine, #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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Hatches on the Big Hole consist of Tricos

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Hatches on the Big Hole consist of Tricos, Spruce Moths, PMD’s and hoppers. You will find the Trico hatch starting around 10:00 am. The Spruce Moth hatch has been weak lately but it should get better as day time highs get into the 80’s this week. Nymphing has been consistent in the afternoons. We have been dropping either a #10 Pat’s Stone or a #16 Flashback Pheasant tail off our hoppers. Other droppers that have been working well are #16 Psycho Mayflies, #16 Shimmer Nymphs, and #16 Red Copper John’s. If you like to drag streamers, you will have success in the shallow riffles with a #6 McCune’s Sculpin or Mini loop sculpins.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Photo: Dan Armstrong

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #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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The Big Hole is fishing very well right now on dry flies.

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The Big Hole is fishing very well right now on dry flies. Here is our Spruce Moth hatch update. The Spruce Moths are here and the fish are keying into them very well. You can fish a moth for most of the day with very good success. You will find the best moth fishing from Jerry Creek all the way down to Maiden Rock. Besides the moths you will find a good Trico hatch coming off around 9:30 in the morning. We are also having success on small hoppers in the afternoon hours. Come enjoy the moth hatch, it matches up to the Salmonfly hatch in June. Here is the latest information on closures. They have instituted back the Hoot Owl Closures below Maiden Rock and on the upper Big Hole. From Dickey Bridge to Maiden Rock is open to fishing 24 hours a day.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Pete Davis getting his buddy on a Big Hole Brown yesterday. It ate a Spruce Moth dry fly

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #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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Spruce Moth Hatch

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Dry fly fishing has picked up the last few days and should get dynamite this week. From 8 am till about 1:00 pm is the best dry fly fishing opportunity. You will have hatches of PMD’s Trico’s and Spruce Moths. Yes, we said Spruce Moths. You will find the Spruce Moth hatch from Jerry Creek access down to Maiden Rock. We have seen a good number of Moths hitting the water. For periods of the morning the fish have keyed into them and then at other times they have ignored the fluttering Moth’s on the surface. The trout should start to key into the Moth activity as they see them on a daily basis. Small hoppers in the afternoon have the fish looking up. We also have had good streamer fishing in the shallow riffles. Our best streamers have been olive/Tan Sculpins.

Guide Shawn Bechtol with a nice Big Hole Cutthrout

Flies:   #12 Spruce Moth #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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