Category: Big Hole River Fishing Report

We have had some fantastic spring weather for the most part on the Big Hole lately. We are just getting through a cold snap today and then we are back to good fishing conditions. The river is stable and visibility is around 3 feet. We have had great nymph fishing and the occasional afternoon with good Skwalla dry fly fishing. You should be able to prospect the slow grassy banks this weekend with skwalla dry flies and do well. We have seen the better dry fly conditions on the lower stretches of the Big Hole River.

The trout have looked very healthy so far this spring. You will find some blue winged olives and March brown mayflies scattered throughout the river system. The streamer anglers are having good reports in the afternoons. Some days we have seen fish chasing and some days they have wanted slower moving streamers off the bottom. It is a wonderful time to get your spring fishing in before the high elevation runoff hits. We have a snowpack around 90% of normal for this date in time. The water conditions are shaping up to be very good this season. Spring Special Packages are still available. Book your trip today.

Recommended Flies:

• Bullet Head Skwalla #10
• Chubby Chernobyl Olive #10
• Blackout Stone Skwalla #10
• San Juan Worm Pink/Red #8
• Pat’s Stone #8 Olive/Brown
• Rusty Trombone #6
• Lil’ Kim Copper #6
• J.J. Special #6

Spring Fishing on the Big Hole has arrived. It has been winter like weather but that is going to change this weekend. Highs in the upper 50’s and lower 60’s this weekend will make for some nice fishing. The Big Hole is dropping and clearing and should be great shape this weekend. Water temperatures are still cold and the fish will be in the slower buckets. We have been nymphing with our best success. Flows are around 800cfs and should continue to drop or stay stable. You will find hatches of midges right now. Skwallas are still about a week out. Water temperatures need to get up into the upper 40’s to 50’s to get the Skwala hatch going. A solid window of spring fishing is here until the next push of water from snowmelt. The Big Hole basin is currently at 96% of average in snowpack.

Recommended Flies:

• Pat’s Stone olive/brown #8
• San Juan Worm #8
• Zebra Midge #16
• Shop Vac #16
• J.J. Special #6
• Bow River Bugger #6

The Big Hole River opening day is tomorrow, April 1st. We are looking forward to celebrating our 20th year in business in 2025. Our shop will be open at 9:00 am tomorrow and open daily for the Spring season. We will be running shuttles and open with many fishing goodies in stock. Our lodging opens this week and we still have some availability for our Spring Special.

The conditions of the Big Hole are not ideal right now but improving daily. The ice on the upper river has broken free last week and it has caused the flows to come up and the river to be off color. The river seems to be stabilizing and should drop in flows in the next 24- 36 hours due to cooler temperatures. Once the river drops in flow we should have great fishing. Boats will be out this week and we will give you reports as soon as we have them. We are looking forward to a great season. Snowpack in the Big Hole drainage is 95% for this date in time. We are expecting to have a good water year and plenty of healthy fish in the river system. We will see you in the shop or on the water.

We have your Montana snowpack update as we enter the middle of the winter season. It was a brisk -15 degrees here this morning but it looks like temperatures will get back into the 20’s in a few days. The Montana snowpack is much better this year compared to last year at this time. The Big Hole and Beaverhead drainage is sitting at 80% of normal snow water equivalent at this time. We still have 90 more days until our snowpack has peaked, so plenty of winter left to increase our percentages. It is still too early to predict streamflows for the spring and summer season. We usually will know streamflows for the spring in summer once April comes around. Updates will be coming from us throughout the winter and spring season as the snow piles up for outdoor enthusiasts.

We are looking towards a great 2025 fishing season. Fish health this past fall was found to be fantastic in the brown trout and rainbow trout in the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers. We will start our season April 1st with our Spring Special. This year we are taking the Spring Special through May 15th. You will find great dry fly fishing opportunities in the Spring season. Hatches of Skwallas and Blue Winged Olives will dominate the menu for trout. Spring packages are 15% our regular season rates. Book your trip today.

Job Position Available:

Sunrise Fly Shop Manager Position:

Sunrise Fly Shop is searching for a qualified and hard working individual to manage our fly shop. This is a fun environment filled with passion for fly fishing on the legendary Big Hole River in Melrose, Montana.

• Manage marketing and growth of online store.
• Inventory accuracy and order fulfillment
• Social Media Marketing and email marketing
• Manage, promote, and grow Sunrise Fly Shop’s social media
• Inventory management and inventory accuracy
• Weekly email news blasts highlighting online store, sales, and guide trips and fishing reports
• Help facilitate the accurate and efficient completion of all the day’s shuttles.
• Communicate with clients via email and telephone to book both guided trips and lodging
• Manage the stocking of merchandise and organize the backstock and back rooms
• Contact all clients that will be checking in within the next 24 hours and ensure that they have all the – logistical information that they might need for their upcoming trip

To apply email resume to: [email protected]

The Big Hole River fishing report has been pretty good lately for our guides and general public anglers. We have over 55 miles of open fishable water on the Big Hole right now. The Big Hole is open from Dickey Bridge down to Notch Bottom(Tony Shoonen Fishing Access). Hoot Owl Restrictions have been lifted on this section. You can fish all day and all evening from Dickey Bridge down to the Lower Maiden Rock (FWP). On the Big Hole you will find trico’s, hoppers and a few spruce moth’s still around. Nymphing has been solid with Spanish bullett’s, psycho mayflies and pat’s rubber legs. We have seen some very nice brown trout caught lately on the river. Hoppers and a nymph dropper has been the ticket to stay hooked up after the trico’s hatch in the morning.

Recommended Flies:

• #8 Plan B (peach)
• #10 Chubby Chernobyl Pink
• #18 Trico Spinner
• #18 Trico Comparadun
• #18 Purple Craze
• #16 Spanish Bullet Olive

The USGS recalibrated the Glen gauge on Monday, August 5 and it was determined that the gauge was reading lower than the actual flow of the river. Because of this, FWP announced on August 6 that sections 3 and 4 of the Big Hole Rive are open again. This means that you can fish sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Big Hole River. These three sections are still under Hoot Owl Restrictions, meaning you can fish the river from Midnight until 2:00pm every day. With the river opening, our fly shop will be open again starting Wednesday, August 7 at 7:00am.

Full fishing closures are still in effect for both Sections 1 and 5 of the Big Hole.

Full Fishing closure is in effect for the following section of the Big Hole River beginning August 1

• Section 5: Tony Schoonen FAS (aka Notch) to confluence with Beaverhead River

Flows have gradually decreased since hoot owl restrictions were put in place in early July and dropped below 100 cfs on the morning of August 1, 2024.

The Big Hole River has a drought management plan that is overseen by the Big Hole Watershed Committee and calls for a full closure of Section V when flows drop below 100 cfs.

Fishing closure is in effect for the following section of the Big Hole River beginning August 7

• Section 1: ​​Saginaw Bridge on Skinner Meadows Road to the confluence with North Fork of the Big Hole River

​​Flows and water temperatures in Section 1 are measured at USGS gage 06024450 near Wisdom.​ 

​​Flows have gradually decreased since hoot owl restrictions were put in place in early July and dropped below 20 cfs on August 2, 2024. Flows have since fluctuated between 15 and 24 cfs.​ 

​​The Big Hole River has a drought management plan that is overseen by the Big Hole Watershed Committee and calls for a full closure of Section I when flows drop below 20 cfs. FWP staff visited the site last week to confirm the gage was providing accurate measurements. At the time, the gage was reading 46 cfs and staff measured closer to 35 cfs, so there’s a high likelihood that flows are lower than being reported.​ 

The Big Hole River Spruce Moth hatch has started and the dry fly fishing is fantastic. You will find Spruce Moth’s from Jerry Creek down to Maiden Rock. We also have Trico’s hatching river wide. You will find the trico spinner fall from 9:30 am till about 10:30 am daily. We are expecting a bit of a cool down in air temperatures, which is a welcoming for us all. Our best fishing has been in the riffles and tail outs.

The Fly Shop is Open 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Hoot Owl fishing restrictions (2:00 p.m. – Midnight ) has been implemented on the entire Big Hole River. This means you can’t t fish from 2:00 p.m. till Midnight. We have been sending out our guide boats in the early morning hours. New Shop hours are 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Hopefully this current heat wave ends soon.

Recommended Flies:

• Spruce Moth #12
• Bloom’s Spruce #12
• Chubby Chernobyl #10 Tan/Pink
• Purple Craze #18
• Trico Spinner #18
• Spanish Bullet Black #16
• Thread Frenchie #16
• Mini Loop Sculpin #6 Olive
• Lil’ Kim #6

The Big Hole River fishing report remains pretty good. We have had dry fly fishing in the morning and solid nymphing and streamer fishing in the early afternoons. You will find hatches of PMD’s, caddis, yellow sallies and nocturnal stoneflies. Our best fishing has been in the shallow riffles and faster moving water. Please be looking out for water temperatures in the late afternoon and evening hours. If water temperatures exceed 68 degrees we recommend giving the trout a break. The best fishing has been from Jerry Creek down to the Melrose area.

Hoot Owl fishing restrictions (2:00 p.m. – Midnight ) has been implemented on the entire Big Hole River. This means you can’t t fish from 2:00 p.m. till Midnight. We have been sending out our guide boats in the early morning hours. New Shop hours are 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Hopefully this current heat wave ends soon.

Recommended Flies:

• #16 Spanish Bullet Brown
• #16 Jig Napoleon Yellow
• #10 Chubby Chernobyl tan/yellow
• #16 Purple Haze
• #12 Yellow Sally
• #14 Bloom’s Caddis
• #6 Lil’ Kim Olive
• #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

The Skwala Tour De West is coming to Sunrise Fly Shop on July 2nd from 4:00pm – 7:00pm. You can check out the Skwala gear, information on TroutRoutes and an enjoyable time filled with food and beverages. This event is welcomed to all anglers and we want to hear your fishing stories. We are thrilled to have Erik Johnsen hosting this event and we look forward to seeing you here.

Fishing has been fantastic on the Big Hole lately. We have golden stones, nocturnal stones, PMD’s, Caddis and Yellow Sallies hatching on the river. We have been fishing the canyon stretches and lower stretches of the Big Hole River. Streamers have also been good in the morning hours and evenings. You will find swarms of caddis in the evenings.

Recommended Flies:

• Chubby Chernobyl #10 olive/gold/tan
• Head Light Sally #12
• Purple Haze #12
• Jig Duracel #12 tan
• X Caddis #12

The Big Hole River salmonfly hatch continues to move up stream. We are seeing the bugs all the way above the Wise River on the Big Hole. Fishing has been great during the middle of the day when the Salmonflies have been landing on the water. You will find golden stones as well on the water and PMD’s. We have seen some amazing fish getting caught this week and it should continue into next week. The river clarity is around 3 feet and the dropping flows will make for some perfect river conditions. We are finding the thickest part of the hatch right now from Jerry Creek down to Maiden Rock. Below Melrose you will find PMD’s, caddis, yellow sallies and golden stones hatching.

Recommended Flies:

• #6 Cat Puke
• #6 Trinas Carnage Salmonfly
• #6 Chubby Norman
• #6 Chubby Chernobyl Purple
• #6 pat’s stone black
• #6 Dungeon Black
• #6 Lil’ Kim