Category: Beaverhead River Fishing Report

The Beaverhead River July fishing report has been stellar so far. We are seeing great hatches of PMD’s lately. We have found some pockets of Yellow Sallies, and fantastic caddis in the evening hours. Around the grasshopper flats you will see golden stone’s hatching and the fish have been crushing dries on certain days. Head hunting in the slick on the upper Beaverhead has been good for the technical anglers. Flows out of Clark Canyon Reservoir are hovering around 650 cfs and seem to be going up daily. Now is the time to get on the Beaverhead River. July is always the prime month on this fantastic tailwater fishery. The Beaverhead River is always the cold water refuge during the heat of the summer.

Recommended Flies:

• Crack Back PMD #18
• Hunchback PMD #16
• Trigger Nymph PMD #18
• Jig Frenchie (Black, Olive) #16
• Plan B #8
• Chubby Chernobyl gold #8
• Comparadun PMD #18
• Bubble Back PMD #18

The Beaverehad River opening week has been nothing short of very good. Despite the low flows we have seen some great fish caught lately. The outflows from Clark Canyon Reservoir are only 130cfs. Wade fishing is your best option on the Beaverhead at these low flows. We have done best nymphing on the Beaverehad this week. Sow bugs, scuds, and midges have all been catching fish for us sub surface. All of the fish we have been catching on the river look healthy and wintered very well. Clark Canyon Reservoir is 84% full and it will still be stacking up water while runoff continues. Fishing should be very good this season on the Beaverhead River.

Recommended Flies:

• Sow bug Soft Hackle #16
• Scud (Orange, tan) #16
• Micro Mayfly (Olive) #16
• Psycho Mayfly (Olive) #16
• Spanish Bullet (Olive) #16

The Beaverhead River can be a great refuge for winter fishing. From Pipe Organ Bridge down to Barretts park you can fish in the winter season. Anglers must remember that from the Dam down to Pipe Organ Bridge is closed to fishing until the 3rd Saturday of May. You can find hatches of midges on warmer days and a few trout siping on the surface in areas of the river during the heat of the day. For the most part nymph fishing is the ticket right now on the stretches below Pipe Organ Bridge. You can also have some luck pulling streamers in the deeper pools and moving them very slow on the bottom of the river. Our best nymphs have been #10 San Juan worms, #16 shop vac, #18 micro may, and zebra midges. When you are nymphing make sure you find the slow tail outs of the runs in the deeper buckets. Once you find fish you should have a pile of them.

Spring season will be here before you know it. We are offering our annual spring special from April 1st – May 15th. Enjoy discounted package lodging/fishing with us and fantastic Spring fishing. Some of our weekends are filling up but we still have availability for the special rates. We are expecting more winter and plenty of snow the next two months. We will keep you updated on the Beaverhead River winter fishing season.

The Beaverhead River fishing report is fantastic lately. We have hatches of PMD’s, caddis, yellow sallies and some golden stones. Our guides have been doing very well from the dam down to Barretts. You will find fish up eating PMD’s and yellow sallies throughout the day. Nymph anglers have been hanging fish very well on PMD nymphs and yellow sally nymphs. This is the month to hit the Beaverhead river for the best dry fly activity of the year. We currently have guides open this month if you want to see this river in prime form.

Hoot Owl (2:00 p.m. – Midnight ) Fishing restrictions have been implemented on part of the Beaverhead River. From HWY 41 near East Bench Road to it’s confluence with the Big Hole River is on Hoot Owl Restrictions. This is not the section that we fish regularly. From the Dam down to Barretts park is open with no restrictions.

Recommended Flies:

• #18 Split Back PMD Black
• #16 Spanish bullet Yellow
• #18 Mahen PMD
• #16 Psycho May PMD
• #16 Comparadun PMD
• #10 Chubby Golden

Fishing on the Beaverhead River has been pretty good lately. We have seen blue winged olives hatching and the Caddis will start in the next week or two. Streamer fishing on the lower end has been good on J.J.’s and black dungeons. We have seen very nice 16 inch – 18 inch brown trout in the Sections below Pipe Organ Bridge. These fish wintered well and it should be a nice fish year on the Beaverhead River. We are excited for the this month and the summer to come!

Reminder: The Dam down to Pipe Organ bridge is closed through May 17th. The opener on the upper Beaverhead is May 18th. Clark Canyon Reservoir is full and outflows are hovering at 250cfs. It is going to be a fabulous water year on the Beaverhead.

Recommended Flies:

• #16 Spanish Bullet Olive
• #16 Thread Frenchie
• #8 San Juan Worm
• #6 J.J. Special
• #6 Dungeon Black

The Beaverhead River has continued to fish well for us lately. The Flows out of Clark Canyon Reservoir have been dropping recently, which is great news. Outflows this morning were 557 cfs and dropping. Clark Canyon Reservoir has turned over and clarity on the upper Beaverhead has diminished. The upper sections of the Beaverhead has been nymphing well with Tungsten Sunkist’s, Hunchback’s, and split back’s. The hopper fishing has picked up lately on the lower sections of the Beaverhead River. We have brought up some massive fish lately on Chernobyl ant’s and hoppers.

Currently we have no fishing restrictions on the Beaverhead River. All sections are open to fishing.

Recommended Flies:

• #16 Hunchback PMD
• #18 Tungsten Sunkist
• #16 Split Back Olive
• #8 Chernobyl Ant Tan
• #8 Black Magic
• #8 Morrish Hopper

The Beaverhead River is fishing well for us lately. The flows out of Clark Canyon Reservoir are 886cfs. The Beaverhead is flowing bank full and fast at these flows. Wade fishing is not an option for most anglers but the boat fishing has been good. We are seeing hatches of PMD’s, Caddis and yellow sallies. Dry fly fishing has been tougher at these high flows for most anglers. The best tactic lately has been nymph fishing with PMD’s and yellow sallies. Fish are holding on the edges and in the shallow zones where you find gravel bottom. If you are looking to get out on a guide trip this up coming week give us a call. We currently have a few guides available.

The Beaverhead River is on Hoot Owl restrictions (2:00 PM to midnight) from the confluence of the Big Hole River to Anderson Lane on the Beaverhead beginning 2 PM on July 19.  This section is on the far lower reach of the River. From Barretts State Park to the Dam is “not” under Hoot Owl restriction, you can fish this section all day. Please call us if you have any questions 406-835-3474.

Recommended Flies:

• Split Case PMD #18
• Trigger Nymph PMD #18
• Hunchback PMD #18
• Psycho Prince #12
• Comparadun PMD #18
• Tilt Wing PMD #16