Runoff has started on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Runoff has started on the Big Hole. Don’t mark this river off your list but it is going to be tough fishing the next few days due to the increase in water volume. Clarity in the river around Melrose is about 18 inches. We had good reports from yesterday with streamers and nymphs but the river clarity has gotten worse since yesterday. Once the river stops the hard rise we should get some good fishing days in. The Mother’s Day Caddis hatch has started on the lower Big Hole. The Caddis hatch should be starting in the canyon in the next few days. We have reports of blizzarding caddis hatches below Melrose on the Big Hole.

Recommended Flies: #10 Purple Haze; #12 X Caddis; #10 Mr. Beam; #10 Skwala Stone; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown; #8 San Juan Worm; #12 Pheasant Tail; #12 Caddis Pupa; #6 J.J. Special; #4 Smokin’ Mirrors; #4Mr. Creepo

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Fishing has remained very good on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has remained very good on the Big Hole. We have hatches of Caddis, March Brown’s and Blue Winged Olives. The river is clear and stable at the moment. Streamer fishing has picked up since the water temperatures are getting into the 50’s in the afternoon. The warmer weather in the next few days might start to bump the river so please stay in touch with the latest report by calling the fly shop. We have Big Hole River guides on the river daily with your latest fishing report.

Below is information on our second annual Salmonfly Fest.

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Fishing has been pretty good on the Big Hole lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been pretty good on the Big Hole lately. We did get a bump in flows in the last 24 hours due to snow in the mountains and rain in the valley. The river still remains clear and fishing well but the dry fly fishing might be sacrificed until the water stabilizes. Cool wet weather remains for the rest of the week, which bodes well for dry fly fishing if the river flows don’t continue to rise. Our Big Hole River guides have been catching some very nice fish lately on the Big Hole. The snowpack continues to build and we are setting up for good summer flows if this weather pattern continues.

 

 Sunrise Fly Shop Client with a nice Brown from this week

Recommended Flies: #10 Mr. Beam; #10 Bullett Head Skwala; #10 Skwala Stone; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown; #8 San Juan Worm; #12 Pheasant Tail; #6 J.J. Special; #4 Smokin’ Mirrors; #4Mr. Creepo

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Spring fishing on the Big Hole remains very good and plenty of people are getting out and enjoying the spring action.

by sunriseflyshop

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Spring fishing on the Big Hole remains very good and plenty of people are getting out and enjoying the spring action. The Skwala hatch has been a good one this year. You will find the Skwala hatch on the lower Big Hole and up into the canyon stretches of the Big Hole. We had a banner day from Jerry Creek down to Maiden Rock on the Skwala dry fly. With more of the consistent weather, which will not change the river flow too much you will have opportunities for fishing on the surface with Skwala dry flies. Slow moving streamers have also been working well on the Big Hole River. we have been sticking to olive colored streamers and natural colored streamers lately. The tailouts of the runs or shallow slow riffle water has been the most consistent for us lately. Our bins are stocked with Skwala patterns and some new Big Hole streamers, stop in we are open 7 days a week.

Rutger with a nice Big Hole Brown from this spring

Recommended Flies: #10 Mr. Beam; #10 Bullett Head Skwala; #10 Skwala Stone; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown; #8 San Juan Worm; #12 Pheasant Tail; #6 J.J. Special; #4 Smokin’ Mirrors; #4Mr. Creepo

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The spring fishing season is in full swing on the Big Hole River.

by sunriseflyshop

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The spring fishing season is in full swing on the Big Hole River. Stable flows and consistent weather has the river fishing very well. The water temperatures have remained cold but the fish have been active lately. On the warmer days with afternoon air temperatures in the 50’s, you will find good dry fly fishing.  The fish have been looking up for Skwala dry flies. Our best dry fly fishing on the Skwala’s lately have been from Maiden Rock down to Notch Bottom. The dry fly fishing should improve above the Maiden Rock canyon if the water temperatures get in the upper 40’s. Dropper fishing has been consistent with Pat’s Stones and San Juan worms. You may find some Blue Winged Olives and of course the midges scurrying around the back eddies. The streamer fisherman have done ok with slow moving streamers in deeper tail outs and inside bends.

Lynn Harp with a perfect brown caught on a Skwala dry fly

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The ice is off, the clarity has improved, the water is warming, and the fishing is really heating up.

by sunriseflyshop

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The ice is off, the clarity has improved, the water is warming, and the fishing is really heating up.  Most of the fish in the last week have been caught on San Juan Worms and Pat’s Rubber Legs, but we have been getting a few fish here and there on a Skwally dry.  Additionally, a few of our guides have been using small streamers (olive and yellow have been the best colors).  Most of the fish have been found in soft, inside corners and deep tail-outs. When the river temps get above 45 degrees, you can expect the Skwalla action to really get started.  A lot of people have been asking about ice on the upper river, and we want to report that all of the boat ramps are ice free except for Lower Sportsman’s and East Bank.  East Bank should be ice free in the next day or two, but Lower Sportsman’s still has several feet of ice and will take quite a bit more time to become usable.

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The massive ice jams and flooding events that took place last week are all behind us on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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The massive ice jams and flooding events that took place last week are all behind us on the Big Hole. You will still see large ice chunks the size of small VW’s pushed up over the banks of the upper Big Hole. The entire river is flowing ice free at this point and the river is starting to come into shape. Clarity is improving daily and water temperatures should start climbing this week to activate the fish throughout the day as the water flows continue to drop. We had some Big Hole River guides out today scouting the river and they had some success in very specific locations. It should be a good week on the Big Hole and it is time to start thinking about the Skwala hatch. We will keep you posted on when the hatch starts and it’s movement on the lower Big Hole. As for now we would stay subsurface with Skwalla nymphs, San Juan Worms and slow moving streamers. Some Spring specials are still available. Click here for information on our Spring Special.

Sunrise fly Shop guide Rick Rossi with a beautiful brown caught today on the Big Hole River

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Fall is here and we just had a blast of rain in the valley and snow in the high country.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall is here and we just had a blast of rain in the valley and snow in the high country. Foliage is at it’s peak on the Big Hole right now. Fishing has been very good lately. You will find hatches of Blue Winged Olives and Slate Drakes on the river. Streamers have been working well and the nymphing has been solid. Look for the flows to rise with this Fall storm we are having. The Brown trout are staging to spawn so please do not walk on spawning beds or fish over the spawning areas. We have a large Fall sale going on in the shop: 20% – 40% Off clothing. Please stop in or give us a call if you are interested.

The Wares with a 20 inch brown on their 20th wedding anniversary!

Recommended Flies: #16 Split Wing BWO : #16 BWO Cripple #14 Purple Craze; #14 Comparadun Yellow; #12 Bloom’s Caddis; #12 Purple Chubby; #14 Para Wolf; #14 Psycho Mayfly; #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone; #14 Pearl Lightning Bug; #14 Red Copper John; #18 Silver Lightning Bug #16 Micro Mayfly;  4 Mini Loop Sculpin; #8 Trevors Sculpin

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Fishing has been excellent lately on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been excellent lately on the Big Hole. You will find hatches of Blue Winged Olives and Slate Drakes. Streamer fishing in the overcast weather has been fantastic. Nymphing in the tail outs of runs have also been very good. A large cottonwood tree has fallen about 1/3 of a mile above the Salmonfly take out in Melrose. Below is an image of one of our Big Hole River guides portaging around the tree. We have contacted FWP about the fallen tree. Hopefully it will be removed so you will not have to portage. Please be aware of this obstacle if you are floating above Melrose. 

Recommended Flies: #16 Split Wing BWO : #16 BWO Cripple #14 Purple Craze; #14 Comparadun Yellow; #12 Bloom’s Caddis; #12 Purple Chubby; #14 Para Wolf; #14 Psycho Mayfly; #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone; #14 Pearl Lightning Bug; #14 Red Copper John; #18 Silver Lightning Bug #16 Micro Mayfly;  4 Mini Loop Sculpin; #8 Trevors Sculpin

 

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Fishing has remained pretty good on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has remained pretty good on the Big Hole. The Big Hole just opened from Maiden Rock down to Notch Bottom. The river is moving into Fall mode and the brown trout are eating very well. We have been catching many large brown trout lately on the Big Hole River. You will find hatches of Blue Winged Olives, and Slate Drakes. Nymphing has been consistent with Pat’s Stone’s #10 olive/brown, or black. #18 Micro Mayflies, #18 silver lightning bugs, #18 green machines, and #16 pheasant tails. Streamer fishing has been fantastic. We have been catching them in the shallow riffles and deeper tail outs lately. It’s time to enjoy the Fall fishing on the Big Hole.

The Big Hole River is open without any restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to Notch Bottom. Here is a map to help you with the closures http://www.bhwc.org/fish-water/river-conditions/

Client Colleen with a Big Hole beauty this week

Recommended Flies: #16 Split Wing BWO : #16 BWO Cripple #14 Purple Craze; #14 Comparadun Yellow; #12 Bloom’s Caddis; #12 Purple Chubby; #14 Para Wolf; #14 Psycho Mayfly; #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone; #14 Pearl Lightning Bug; #14 Red Copper John; #18 Silver Lightning Bug #16 Micro Mayfly;  4 Mini Loop Sculpin; #8 Trevors Sculpin

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