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

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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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Fall is in the air and the trout are responding to the change of the seasons.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall is in the air and the trout are responding to the change of the seasons. We got a nice bump in flows due to valley rain and mountain snow. Fishing has been very good lately. The brown trout are looking to pack on the pounds for the spawn later this month. Streamer fishing has been very good. Natural and olive color streamers have been the best ticket lately. You will find fish eating the streamers in the shallow riffles and deeper pools. We have also done well with a #10 black or olive/brown pat’s stone. You will find Blue Winged Olives hatching around 2:00 in the afternoon.

The Big Hole River is open without any restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to FWP Maiden Rock. Please note Maiden Rock FWP is the lower Maiden Rock, which is out of the canyon a few miles upstream from Melrose. Here is a map to help you with the closures http://www.bhwc.org/fish-water/river-conditions/

rank with a colored up Fall Big Hole brown from 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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Dry fly fishing has picked up lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Dry fly fishing has picked up lately. We have the Spruce Moths back on the water. From Jerry Creek down to Divide we have had excellent dry fly fishing lately on Spruce Moths and Tricos. Overcast days we have had good luck with #16 Comparaduns and small chubby chernobyl’s. Not much for any hopper fishing yet on the Big Hole. The Big Hole River is open without any restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to FWP Maiden Rock. Please note Maiden Rock FWP is the lower Maiden Rock, which is out of the canyon a few miles upstream from Melrose. Here is a map to help you with the closures http://www.bhwc.org/fish-water/river-conditions/

Recommended Flies: #18 Comparadun Trico; #18 Trico Spinner;#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; 4 Mini Loop Sculpin; #6 Sculpzilla 

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Fishing has been ok on the Big Hole lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been ok on the Big Hole lately. The Spruce Moth fishing looks like it is done for the year. It was a fantastic hatch this year but we have not seen anymore since the rain last week. Trico fishing is the main recipe for the dry fly fisherman. After the Trico hatch in the mornings on the sunny days you will need to get down and nymph. Overcast days we have had good luck with #16 Comparaduns and small chubby chernobyl’s. Not much for any hopper fishing yet on the Big Hole. The Big Hole River is open without any restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to FWP Maiden Rock. Please note Maiden Rock FWP is the lower Maiden Rock, which is out of the canyon a few miles upstream from Melrose. Here is a map to help you with the closures http://bhwc.org/fish-water/river-conditions/

Sunrise Fly Shop Guide Shawn Bechtol getting into some nice fish lately on the Big Hole

Recommended Flies: #18 Comparadun Trico; #18 Trico Spinner;#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; 4 Mini Loop Sculpin; #6 Sculpzilla

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Big Hole Report

by sunriseflyshop

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The Spruce Moth hatch has been phenomenal this year.  As good of a spruce moth hatch as we have seen in several years.  Combine that with a really strong Trico hatch and we have seen amazing dry fly fishing on the Big Hole River.  As good as the dry fly fishing has been, please remember we do have closures on the river.  Sections I, IV, and V are closed to fishing, but The Big Hole River is open without any restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to FWP Maiden Rock. Please note Maiden Rock FWP is the lower Maiden Rock, which is out of the canyon a few miles upstream from Melrose. Here is a map to help you with the closures http://bhwc.org/fish-water/river-conditions/

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