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.

by sunriseflyshop

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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

by sunriseflyshop

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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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Goodbye to Hoot Owl Closures

by sunriseflyshop

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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.

by sunriseflyshop

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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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Cool and wet weather has helped the fishing dramatically lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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

by sunriseflyshop

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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.

by sunriseflyshop

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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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Our Big Hole River Guides have been getting to work early lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Our Big Hole River Guides have been getting to work early lately. We are currently in a heat wave in Southwest Montana. We have been targeting the nocturnal stonefly hatch on the Big Hole. The dawn dry fly fishing on large foam dries has been fantastic. Around 8:30 a.m. you will find a blizzard PMD hatch. #16 Cripples and #16 Rocky Mountain Mint’s have been working well on the surface. After the PMD’s you will find Yellow Sallies and Golden Stones flying around. Our best late morning and early afternoon fishing is subsurface in the fast riffle water with small bead head nymphs. I would suggest being off the Big Hole around 2:00 pm since the afternoon weather has been heating up the river lately.

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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Fishing has been very good on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been very good on the Big Hole. We have had plenty of hatches to work with lately. You will find PMD’s, caddis, Yellow Sallies and Golden Stones hatching daily. #14 PMD cripples, and comparaduns have been working very well during the PMD hatch. Some of our favorite bugs to prospect with have been #12 Purple Craze’s and #12 snowshoe Sallies. You will find nice brown’s laying up in the shallow riffles. We have also had success with streamers in the riffles. Natural color streamers have worked the best lately. You will find the nocturnal stoneflies hatching on the lower Big Hole. The partly cloudy weather we have had has made for nice dry fly activity the entire day.

Robert Harp With a nice brown caught on a dry fly

Flies:  #8 Rogue Stone #6 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #12 Pearl Lightning Bug #12 Red Copper John Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

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