It will be a hot 4th of July, but a nice cool down is in the forecast for Sunday and into next week.

by sunriseflyshop

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It will be a hot 4th of July, but a nice cool down is in the forecast for Sunday and into next week. Hoot Owl closures are in effect today on many Southwest Montana and Western Montana Rivers and the Big Hole is no exception. Starting today the entire Big Hole River except from Dickey Bridge to Maiden Rock FAS is closed from 2:00pm to midnight daily. So realistically you are able to fish from dawn till 2:00pm.

Fishing has been very good for our Big Hole River guides. We have been leaving the shop early and the dry fly fishing at dawn is fantastic. You will have a good PMD hatch around 8:00 am. After the PMD hatch we have been nymphing the riffles with small #16 Red Copper John’s, #16 Shimmer nymphs, and #16 Pheasant tail’s. Hopper fishing is not long off as we are seeing some good adult hoppers in the grass banks. Set the alarm clock early and hit the water before the warm up.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:  #10 Rogue Stone #10 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker

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Our Big Hole River Guides have been getting to work early lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Our Big Hole River Guides have been getting to work early lately. We are currently in a heat wave in Southwest Montana. We have been targeting the nocturnal stonefly hatch on the Big Hole. The dawn dry fly fishing on large foam dries has been fantastic. Around 8:30 a.m. you will find a blizzard PMD hatch. #16 Cripples and #16 Rocky Mountain Mint’s have been working well on the surface. After the PMD’s you will find Yellow Sallies and Golden Stones flying around. Our best late morning and early afternoon fishing is subsurface in the fast riffle water with small bead head nymphs. I would suggest being off the Big Hole around 2:00 pm since the afternoon weather has been heating up the river lately.

Flies:  #10 Rogue Stone #10 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker

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Fishing has been very good on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been very good on the Big Hole. We have had plenty of hatches to work with lately. You will find PMD’s, caddis, Yellow Sallies and Golden Stones hatching daily. #14 PMD cripples, and comparaduns have been working very well during the PMD hatch. Some of our favorite bugs to prospect with have been #12 Purple Craze’s and #12 snowshoe Sallies. You will find nice brown’s laying up in the shallow riffles. We have also had success with streamers in the riffles. Natural color streamers have worked the best lately. You will find the nocturnal stoneflies hatching on the lower Big Hole. The partly cloudy weather we have had has made for nice dry fly activity the entire day.

Robert Harp With a nice brown caught on a dry fly

Flies:  #8 Rogue Stone #6 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #12 Pearl Lightning Bug #12 Red Copper John Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

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Our Big Hole guides have had great fishing lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Our Big Hole guides have had great fishing lately. You will still find Salmonflies around the Dewey Canyon area. Elsewhere on the river we are having hatches of Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMD’s and Caddis. Some of our best patters for dry flies have been purple craze’s in size #10 and Chubby’s in size #10. Our best nymph droppers off the dry flies have been #12 Red Copper John’s and #12 Pearl lightning bugs. In the cloudy weather we have had in the afternoons as the thunder storms creep up, we have had good streamer fishing with natural patterns. #4 Sculzilla’s and tan Zonkers have been working very well. I would focus on the riffle water with 3 to 4 feet drop offs right now.

Photo By Dan Armstrong Photography: Big Hole River Fly Shop

Flies: #4 Cat Puke #4 Fluttering Stone #4 Rogue Stone #6 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #12 Pearl Lightning Bug #12 Red Copper John Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

Hello everyone:  As you may have noticed construction work on Silver Bridge located on the Big Hole River near Divide is beginning to be initiated by MDT and Anderson Construction.  In order to stage equipment, the work bridge must be reinstalled over the river.  Therefore a one day closure (Monday-June 22, 2015)of the Big Hole River is required for this installation.  Please be advised that the River will be closed to all occupation from 1000 ft. upstream to 1000 ft. downstream of Silver Bridge starting at 8 AM to Midnight, June 22, 2015.   Please see the attached notice.

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The rain we have had the last 48 hours has brought the river on the rise.

by sunriseflyshop

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The rain we have had the last 48 hours has brought the river on the rise. We had a fantastic day on the upper Big Hole yesterday. The clarity remains at about 18 inches on the upper Big Hole above the Wise River. The clarity here around Melrose is only about 6 inches. The Big Hole will fish above the Wise River today but I would stay off the Big Hole below the Wise River unless you just want a fast boat ride. We had the most success for large fish yesterday on San Juan Worms and streamers. It should be another big fish day on the upper Big Hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelvin with a long overdue monster on the upper Big Hole

Flies: #10 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green #8 San Juan Worm, Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

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The moist wet weather continues in Southwest Montana.

by sunriseflyshop

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The moist wet weather continues in Southwest Montana. We are receiving some much needed rain to saturate the ground. Our Big Hole River guides have had fantastic fishing lately. This is the Big Hole River fishing report you have been waiting for. The large brown trout have been eating well during this wet cycle. You will find caddis hatching on the Big Hole from Jerry creek down stream. We have had March Brown hatches above the Wise River in the afternoons. Streamers have been working well for large brown’s on the upper Big Hole. The river is on the rise but don’t let that fool you. The large brown trout have moved to the banks as they are snacking on worms, and sculpins with the increase of flow. The river has 2 feet of visibility and now is the time to search for the large brown trout the Big Hole is famous for.

Brant with a nice Big Hole Brown

Flies: #10 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green #8 San Juan Worm, Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

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Fishing has been pretty good the last couple days and it should be pretty nice this weekend.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been pretty good the last couple days and it should be pretty nice this weekend.  The cooler cloudy weather has had the larger brown trout willing to eat streamers and some dry flies. We have caddis on the lower river below Melrose. Above Melrose you will find March Brown’s still around and some blue winged olives. The flows have remained stable and the visibility is excellent.  We have 2 feet of visibility here in Melrose. Our guides have had good fishing on the upper Big Hole above the Wise River and also around Melrose.

Happy Clients below Divide yesterday

Flies: #10 Bullet Head Skwala, #12 Purple Haze #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green #8 San Juan Worm, Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10 Prince Nymph: #12 Flashback pheasant Tail

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Here come the clouds that we have been waiting for.

by sunriseflyshop

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Here come the clouds that we have been waiting for.  Fishing has been ok lately, but inconsistent at times. The change is weather this week should get the fishing back on track. We still have Skwala stoneflies and March browns hatching but on the bright sunny days the fish have not been willing to stay on the surface feeding all day. Our best dropper in the morning and afternoons has been a size #10 olive/brown pat’s stone. For dry flies a #10 bullet head skwalla and #10 Mr. Beam has been our best pattern.  Don’t let the rising water on the hydrograph fool you.  The clarity is around 2 1/2 feet and the increase of flows will get the fish on the banks, which is a good thing right now for dry fly fishing.

Flies: #8 Mr. beam Skwala, #10 Bullet Head Skwala, #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green #8 San Juan Worm, Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar

Dave Leta with a nice Big Hole Rainbow

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Big Hole River March Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

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Our guide boat yesterday did well.  The mornings are pretty slow due to the freezing nighttime temperatures.  Our afternoon fishing yesterday was pretty good.  The fish are eating San Juan worms and pat’s stones tight to the banks on the tail outs of the runs.  We did some nice fish on streamers on the inside bends of the runs at a dead drift pace.  Streamers of choice are Yellow Yummy’s, and sparkle minnows.  Sunny and warmer today. The fish should be more active today since it will be warmer.  Clarity is still around 2 feet.  We have another Big Hole River guide fishing today with clients so we will have more detailed fishing reports throughout the week ahead.

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We have had a nice stretch of winter weather here in Southwest Montana.

by sunriseflyshop

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We have had a nice stretch of winter weather here in Southwest Montana.  You don’t get to say that too often because the wind is either blowing snow or the temperatures are sub zero.  High temperatures have been in the upper 40’s.  Don’t let the warm weather fool you though, winter is far from over. If you want to get out and wade fish find the heat of the day in the afternoon and nymph some tail outs with your basic prince nymphs, San Juan’s and Pat’s Stones.  I would get out there now before the next cold snap and snow.  The Big Hole river snowpack is currently 108% of average.  We are sitting well right now but we will not complain if mother nature brings us some healthy snow storms the next three months to boost our snowpack even more. We are gearing up for our hosted trip in February to Patagonia River Guides. Our Big Hole River guides are itching to get back on the water this Spring.

 

 

 

The Big Hole River at Brownes Bridge Fishing Access Site

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