Spring Big Hole Update

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The Big Hole River snowpack is sitting at about 95% of normal.  It is looking like an average water year but we still have a lot of winter storms that can hit the high country.  In the valley winter has been holding on with single digit lows this last week but more Spring like conditions are ahead of us this week.  Highs in the mid 40’s to lower 50’s and overnight lows in the 20’s is a recipe for much better water temperatures.  By the weekend the Skwala nymph fishing should start to pick up as they will get more active with the warmer water.  We will keep you posted and remember it is not too late to book your Spring Special.

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Montana Snowpack update

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The Big Hole River drainage is currently at 102% of normal snowpack and the Jefferson drainage is currently at 106%.  It is a great start to our snowpack and we hope it continues to pile up.  Last year at this date in time we were only at 79% of normal snowpack.  We are happy with the improving start to winter this year.  Updates will come later this month.  It is still too early to tell what kind of a water year 2013 will bring but we are pleased with the current winter snowpack. The 2013 booking season has begun.  Time to start looking at the calendar and plan your next fishing vacation.  Give us a call or send an email to discuss the upcoming season.

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Heating up on the Big Hole and Beaverhead

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Summer is officially here.  It is time to take the waders off, put on the the sunshirt and fish dry flies.  We have Yellow Sallies, PMD’s, Caddis, Green Drakes,  and Golden Stones Hatching on our Southwest Montana Rivers.

The Big Hole River has leveled off and is consistently producing PMD hatches in the morning, caddis throughout the day and Golden Stones.  Below is a nice brown caught on a golden stone dry fly pattern a few days ago on the Upper Big Hole.

Currently the Beaverhead River is fishing very well on Nymphs. We have hatches of Yellow Sallies and PMD’s. Flows are currently wader friendly up near the Dam. Our fishing has been the best below High Bridge. As the PMD and Sally hatch thickens the dry fly fishing will be very good on the Beaverhead. Below is a Rainbow caught on the Beaverhead on a PMD nymph a few days ago. Large rainbows are being found throughout the lower stretches of the Beaverhead, which is very exciting.

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Big Hole Salmonfly Hatch Update

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Welll, the talk over the phone and in the shop these days consist of when are the Salmonflies going to hatch on the Big Hole.  Historically we see the Big  Hole River Salmonfly hatch start around June 10th – 15th.  I think because of a below average runoff we are having the big bugs should pop a little early this year.  Water temperatures are already climbing into the 50’s.  We just need some hot days to get the salmonflies to hatch during the night.  The key element for the bugs to start hatching is nighttime temperatures staying above 50 degrees for several nights in a row.

The Salmonfly hatch starts around Glen and works it’s way up river as the water warms.  We have had good stonefly nymph fishing from Melrose to Glen, which is a good indicator that the Salmonfly nymphs are moving closer to the banks getting ready to hatch.  We have very good clarity in the river right now and I don’t see any major bump in flows since we have already had peak runoff, unless we get big rain storms.  The Big Hole Salmonfly hatch should be a great one this year!

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A Salmonfly Hatch to Remember

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We are two days into the Salmonfly Hatch and the big bugs can be found from Glen to Lower Maiden Rock.  Eric gave me a report this afternoon while he was guiding that willlows were bending over because there were so many salmonflies on them.  Dry fly fishing was great from the morning hours till about 2:30 today on Salmonflies.  The hatch should slowly work it’s way up the river this week.  With cooler day time temperatures the hatch should slowly progress, which is a perfect scenario.  Dropping and clearing water has made for perfect conditions for a great Big Hole Salmonfly Hatch this year. We will get some photos up here soon.

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Great Start to May but Still Waiting for Mother’s Day Caddis

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The last week we have seen some stellar fishing on the Big Hole.  We are not talking dries yet, but the spring streamer bite has been fantastic.  Dropping water flows, the Big Hole is tea color, and the fish are looking for the big meals.  We have been fishing river wide right now.  The Divide to Notch section has been keeping our guides hooked up all day with nice fish and the occasional brute.  Below is a nice 22 inch brown that was caught above Glen.

The upper Big Hole has been hot and cold.  I had a stellar day last week with several nice healthy 18 to 22 inch browns on slow stripped streamers.   But we have also had a number of  days where we have had  low numbers of fish landed.  It has been much better on the upper river when you have overcast  weather.  Below is a nice brown caught on a skwalla dry below Deep Creek on the upper Big Hole.

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Ice Jam

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The Big Hole River had a few large ice jams break free during the first couple days of April.  In Melrose, the flows jumped from 3000 cfs to nearly 6000 cfs in only an hour.  It was an impressive sight to see all of the ice and debris floating down the river.

On the Upper Big Hole near East Bank, numerous car-sized chunks of ice were deposited on the banks.

As of 5:00 PM on April 3rd, the Big Hole is back down to 2200 cfs and starting to clear.  We will continue to keep you updated as the river comes back into shape.

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Understanding Weather and Big Hole River flows to Plan Your Montana Fishing Vacation part II

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Visiting Montana in the spring and summer for a fly fishing trip is something that many fly fishers only do a few times in their life. They want to make sure that their visit to the Big Hole River, Beaverhead River or Jefferson River enables them to not only enjoy the scenery but to also catch fish. Timing their trip to coincide with good weather and river flows is key to helping ensure a phenomenal fly fishing vacation.

But all fly fishers should understand that every time we predict what the weather is going to be like, or what the flows will be, or how much water we will have in the Big Hole River come August, we are making little more than a guess. But with these tools and a basic knowledge of hydrology and meteorology, our guess is definitely an educated one.

With all this said here is our 2012 prediction.  We are currently at about 90% snowpack in the Big Hole Watershed.  We have had a rather warm winter so our low elevation snowpack is very thin.  We predict that our spring fishing will be outstanding since we will not have huge river flow fluctuations in the spring due to low elevation snowmelt.  

Our high elevation runoff typically occurs around May 20th – June 5th.  We should see about an average runoff this year since our snowpack is at 90% of normal.  So this is an excellent year to hit the Salmonflies in June, which typically hatch around June 10th and last till June 25th.  The Big Hole Salmonfly hatch is one that all anglers need to hit in their lifetime and this year should be a good one!  We should have average summer flows due to our 90% snowpack going into spring.  2012 is shaping up to be a great season, especially after coming off of the last 2 above average water flow years, which have our trout healthy and big.

April 1st we will start our  Big Hole River fishing reports, Beaverhead River fishing reports, and Jefferson River flow and fishing reports, Stay in touch and get out and fish in Southwest Montana in 2012.

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Understanding Weather and Big Hole River Flows to Plan Your Montana Fly Fishing Vacation Part I

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For many people, their annual fly fishing trip to fish the Big Hole River, Beaverhead River, and Jefferson River in Southwest Montana is the highlight of their year. They need to plan their fly fishing trip months in advance to ensure they can get the time off work, schedule a guided fishing trip with an experienced Montana fly fishing guide, plan their travel, and book a hotel or campground.

A big part of the decision making process is to get information on the river flows of the rivers they plan to visit during their fishing trip, to time their trip for when the river is flowing best and the fishing conditions are optimal. Many people check a particular river’s conditions by visiting a fly shop’s website, where this information is usually kept up to date.

Every spring at the Sunrise Fly Shop we get hundreds of phone calls and inquiries about what we think the Big Hole River flows will be throughout the entire summer so they can plan their Montana fly fishing vacation. As ridiculous as it may sound, we usually have enough data that we can give our clients and customers an answer. No, we don’t claim to be Nostradamus, we just use a number of key indicators and a little bit of logical deduction to produce an educated guess. Never forget, trying to predict long-term weather and river flows is nothing more than an educated guess.

Below are the indicators that we look at, as well as how we use them to help better guess what summertime weather and stream-flows will be in Southwest Montana so people can plan their fly fishing vacation on our local rivers.

• Is it an El Niño or a La Niña year? – El Niño and La Niña years are characterized by variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. The warming or cooling of the ocean water, known as El Niño and La Niña respectively, has a significant effect on the Pacific coast and the Rocky Mountain region. El Niño accompanies high air surface pressure in the western Pacific, while the cold phase, La Niña, accompanies low air surface pressure in the western Pacific. These climate variations cause extreme weather during the year of the specific cycle. For Southwest Montana and fly fishing in Montana, we typically view El Niño years as years that we can expect to see both lower than average winter snowpack and annual precipitation. As for La Niña it is the exact opposite. During La Niña years we can expect to see higher than average water in most of our southwest Montana rivers.

• What percent of average is the winter snowpack? – A substantial percentage of river-flows in the western United States originate as melting mountain snowpack. Over most of the western United States, winter precipitation in stored in the mountains as snow. This winter snow is accumulated in the mountains as snowpack and stored in the soil as groundwater. This winter snowpack is the primary way in which winter precipitation is stored and transferred to the rivers during Montana’s relatively dry summers. The larger the winter snowpack, generally the larger the spring runoff will be and the higher the summer flows will be. The Big Hole River lies within the Jefferson River Drainage. To monitor the annual snowpack in any of Montana’s major river drainages, take a look at the Montana Snow Precipitation Update Websitehttp://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/updatesur/update-mt.html

• Is the National Weather Service predicting a warm or a cold spring? More and more, computer modeling is helping to advance the science of meteorology. The Nation Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association have created a Climate Prediction Center for the United States. Over the last 5 years, these long-term predictions have proven to be surprisingly accurate. Even though the long-term forecasts are only a general prediction of weather trends, they have helped us to predict upcoming temperature and precipitation patterns. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

• What is the current river flow? – Rarely does a day go by that we are not asked the question “What is the flow of the Big Hole River today?” We are fortunate enough to have 10 USGS river-flow gauge stations on the Big Hole River that are updated 12 times a day, and a USGS website that we can access to check these updates. These gauge tations show us the current flow and river height. Some gauges even record river temperature. This data on its own is helpful in understanding current river conditions, but because the USGS website uses graphs to chart the flow and gauge-height trends, we are able to know whether a river is on the rise, dropping, or holding steady – all of which are helpful in predicting how a river will fish.http://waterdata.usgs.gov/MT/nwis/current/?type=flow

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Big Hole Spring Fling, Fly Fishing Film Tour, RO Nomad, & Anglers Tonic

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We have a bunch of good things happening in the Southwest Montana fly fishing community this week.  You don’t here that often when it is mid February in Montana.   Besides the good news that snow is forecasted to fall all week check out these three great things.

This Friday in Bozeman, the Fly Fishing Film Tour will be at the Emerson Cultural Center.   The show starts at 7:00 pm.  Check out there site to find a show near you.

Before the Fly Fishing Film Tour show we will be checking out the unleashing of the RO Nomad.  This is the new line of drift boats by RO.  We are excited to see the latest and greatest from the finest drift boats and skiffs in the Industry.

Be sure to check out the new redesign of Anglers Tonic.  This is a great site by Greg Thomas that has all the latest fishing stories, drinks of the week, news in the industry and fishing destinations you can’t resist.

Don’t wait too late to plan your Big Hole River spring fishing  Special.  3nights & 2days of fishing for only $500 per person.

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