Salmonflies were here

by sunriseflyshop

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Salmonflies were here, and the fishing was incredible. We were seeing the Big Bugs from Browne’s Bridge all the way up to Sportsmans and the dry fly was as good as anyone can ask for. Then the temperature plummeted and we were hit with one of the biggest rain storms that we have seen in years. That one rain storm caused the river to go back above flood stage. Now that the river is dropping and coming back into shape, we are expecting to see another round of phenomenal June fishing.  The upper river has dropped 3000cfs in the last 36 hours, and the clarity is better than 24 inches. With warmer weather coming, we should see some of the hatches reemerge, which will get the fish eating on the surface once again. Salmon flies, Golden Stones, PMD’s, Green Drakes, and Caddis will be hatching.

If you float below the Wise River, the flows are still very high.  Please float with caution.

Below is a nice brown that Ken caught a couple days before the rains hit us.

Recommended Flies: #4 Cat Puke; #12 Rogue Stone; #6 Chubby Chernobyl tan/orange #10 Purple Haze; #12 X Caddis; #6 Pat’s Stone Black; #12 Pheasant Tail; #12 Pearl Lightning Bug; #12 Caddis Pupa; #6 J.J. Special; #4 Smokin’ Mirrors; #4Mr. Creepo

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The Salmonflies are here! We have seen them in the Melrose area and on the upper Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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The Salmonflies are here! We have seen them in the Melrose area and on the upper Big Hole. Fishing has been tough though because of high flows. The river needs to drop to a more manageable level to get the fish looking up. We have just started to see the Salmonflies and the hatch is in the early stages. We will keep you posted on the progress of the hatch and the quality of the fishing as the river drops.

Recommended Flies: #4 Cat Puke; #12 Rogue Stone; #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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June has been off to a high water start.

by sunriseflyshop

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June has been off to a high water start. The Big Hole is almost at flood stage around Melrose. We would not suggest floating in the Melrose area due to high flows right now. Our Big Hole River guides have been fishing the upper Big Hole. Above the Wise River the Big Hole has 2 feet of clarity on the banks. We have been successful with dead drifting streamers, worms and stone fly nymphs. This is a good time to get all of your gear ready for the Salmonfly Hatch. We are getting close to the hatch and we will keep you posted once we see the bugs. We are hoping the river drops before the bugs start to hatch. The first area that we will see the Salmonflies will be around the Glen Access site.

Mark that calendar for June 10th. Our 2nd Annual Salmonfly Fest will be from 5pm – 9pm on June 10th.  We have music from Smokestack and the Foothill Furry. We have food from Brunchies, and Rollin Bites brick oven Pizza. Beaverhead Brewery will be here, and Rattlesnake Distillery. We have giveaways and raffle items from Patagonia, Winston Rods, Simms Fishing Products, Dirty Water Fly Company, Bauer Reels, Scientific Anglers and much more. 

Sunrise Fly Shop Client Corky with a Big Hole River brown trout

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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High water right now on the Big Hole but fishing has been fantastic the last couple of days.

by sunriseflyshop

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High water right now on the Big Hole but fishing has been fantastic the last couple of days. The Big Hole has about 2 1/2 feet of clarity and remains at a stable flow. We have had good fishing from the upper reaches of the Big Hole all the way down to Notch Bottom. If you want to get into lower flowing water then fish above the Wise River on the Big Hole. You will find some bug activity in the afternoons. We have had hatches of Blue Winged Olives, and March Brown mayflies. Our best fishing has been sub-surface with streamers and nymphs. Yellow Zonkers, Yummies, Sparkle Minnows and Sunrise Sculpzilla’s have been our best streamers. Nymph droppers have been San Juan worms, pheasant tails and lightning bugs. We have a good period of fishing before the next bump in flows. Get out there while it remains good.

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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The upper Big Hole River has leveled off for the last few days.

by sunriseflyshop

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The upper Big Hole River has leveled off for the last few days. We currently have 2 feet of clarity in the river. Our Big Hole River guides are back on the river and we are catching some nice fish lately. Our guides have been fishing the upper Big Hole since it has less water volume and more fishable water at these high flows. The Mother’s Day Caddis have hatched all the way up to East Bank, but the river is currently too high to get the trout to eat on the surface. We have been doing the best subsurface with dead drifted streamers and worms. The trout have been filling up on worms lately. We have had fish puking up worms in our boats when we land fish lately. Some worms have been 5 inches long! Sparkle minnow, yellow yummies, Smoking’ Mirrors and zonkers have been our best streamers. If you are looking to fish high water for some trophy trout, this is the time to be here. Conditions can change if we get increases in flows so please call for the latest update. Here is some information on the 2nd annual Salmonfly Fest. 

Our Client Justin caught this Brown on the Big Hole yesterday

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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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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