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

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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.

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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.

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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 BottomHere 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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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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Dry fly fishing on the Big Hole has been excellent.

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Dry fly fishing on the Big Hole has been excellent. We have Spruce Moths, Trico’s and PMD’s hatching on the river. You will find the Spruce Moth hatch from Jerry Creek down to Maiden Rock. The trico hatch occurs around 8:00 in the morning and last a few hours. Nymphing has been good in the shallow fast riffles in the afternoon.  “Hoot Owl” restrictions just went in place on section III of the Big Hole. We have no restrictions from Dickey Bridge down to Maiden Rock FWP. 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/

Recommended Flies: #12 Spruce Moth; CDC Spruce Moth; #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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Mid Summer fishing has been solid on the Big Hole River.

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Mid Summer fishing has been solid on the Big Hole River. You will need a variety of flies since one day they are keyed into a certain bug and the next day they want something completely different. You will find some PMD’s, caddis, and sallies on the water. We are about to move into Trico season on the Big Hole so be ready to have some Trico’s with you on the water. Dry flies of choice have been #12 Chubby chernobyl’s; #16 Para wolf’s; #16 comparaduns; #16 PMX’s. Our nymphs of choice have been changing daily. I would have some streamers; Pat’s stone’s; #16 super flash pheasant tail’s; #16 psycho mayflies; #16 Batman nymphs. We have no closures to report to you. Warm weather is in the forecast so please pay attention to water temperatures. If trout get stressed keep em’ wet.

Sunrise Guide Shawn Bechtol getting clients on some nice Big Hole trout

Recommended Flies: #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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Hoot Owl restrictions were just lifted today on section V of the Big Hole.

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Hoot Owl restrictions were just lifted today on section V of the Big Hole. So the entire river is open to fishing 24 hours a day. Flows have started to stabilize and we are dropping slightly, which is favorable for good fishing. You will find hatches of PMD’s, Caddis and some Sallies on the river. With the settled weather pattern, fishing will remain good for the next several days.

Recommended Flies: #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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