Category: Big Hole River Fishing Report

Our Big Hole River Fly Shop opens for the 2024 season tomorrow! The doors opened in 2006 and it is with great honor to serve anglers from all over the country for another year and many more to come. The entire Big Hole River is open April 1st. We will be fishing from Divide down to the lower stretches. The upper Big Hole is still frozen above Dickie Bridge. Guide trips are out all week and we will have an updated report once we get on the water. the river is flowing around 520cfs in Melrose, it is running clear and should fish well. It will be subsurface activity and slow moving streamers in the afternoons. Looks like nice spring weather this week. We look forward to another fantastic season and seeing all the familiar and faces in the shop.

Spring Special trips are still available Click here for more information.

Fall officially starts Saturday according to the calendar but we are in fall mode already on the Big Hole River. We woke up to snow in the high country and rain in the valley today and more is in the forecast tonight. The next several days looks like perfect fishing weather for September. We are going to have overcast damp weather, which means streamers, Blue Winged Olives and Mahogany Duns are on the menu. We have been fishing from Divide all the way down to Notch Bottom. The Berma Road has re-opened so you can do all of the lower river floats from Glen to Notch.

We have through September 30th to fish the Big Hole River this year. FWP is closing the Big Hole River from Dickie Bridge down to the mouth of the Jefferson From October 1st – March 31st this upcoming season to try and protect spawning brown trout. Fall is one of our favorite seasons on the Big Hole and this is a huge disappointment for many anglers. If you have plans to fish the Big Hole this fall you better get over here the next 9 days. We have some guides and lodging open next week if you are interested. For up to date fishing reports give us as call 406-835-3474.

Check out our online store sale page. Orvis Helios IIIF are 20% off. Lots of closeout sun-shirts and apparel 20-30% off.

Fall is here and the fishing on the Big Hole has been very good. We are enjoying the above average river flows and cool water temperatures to start September. The willows and some of the cottonwoods are starting to turn into autumn splendor. We have some trico’s hatching in the late morning hours on the Big Hole. On moist days you will find Blue Winged Olives, and some Mahogany Dun’s on the water. Hopper activity is still in play on the Lower Big Hole River.

The Burma Road near Notch Bottom had a washout due to a rainstorm. The section of the Burma road from the Glen Bridge down to Pennington Bridge is closed to thru traffic until they fix the washout. You can float fish to Glen but you will not be able to fish below Glen due to the road being closed. We will keep you posted when the road re-opens.

20% off Orvis Helios Fly Rods: Shop our sale

Recommended Flies:

• #14 Purple Craze
• #10 Chubby Chernobyl Pink
• #18 Trico Comparadun
• #18 Trico Spinner
• #14 Spanish Bullet Olive/black
• #16 Psycho Mayfly
• #4 J.J. Special
• #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

The Big Hole River has had fantastic flows this August due to above average rainfall. Fishing has been good lately and should continue to be consistent. We have seen fish really put on the pounds this summer. Water temperatures have remained good and the hatches have consisted of Trico’s, PMD’s, and some Blue Winged Olive’s on the moist cool days we have had lately. Look for hoppers to really heat up this coming week in the nice weather and dry conditions in the forecast. We have some openings for this coming week with our lodging and guides. Give us a call for the most up to date information 406-835-3474.

Recommended Flies:

• #8 Plan B
• #10 Chubby Chernobyl Olive
• #18 Trico Spinner
• #18 Trico Comparadun
• #16 Jig Duracell
• #14 Spanish Bullet Olive
• #16 Purple Craze
• #8 Morrish Hopper

The Big Hole River has been quite pleasant for fishing lately. We are enjoying the above average flows for this time of the year and “no” fishing restrictions on any of the sections of the Big Hole River. Currently our best fishing has been from Jerry Creek Bridge all the way down to Brownes Bridge. These sections of the Big Hole have had good trico hatches, some nocturnal stoneflies and flying ant’s. We have been fishing hopper dropper rigs with great success. You will find fish sipping on trico spinners in the morning and then we are prospecting with with hopper dropper rigs in the late morning and into the afternoon hours with great success. We have been finding some superb brown trout lately eating our flies. Don’t miss out on the action and book your trip today!

Recommended Flies:

• #18 Hi Vis trico spinner
• #18 Trico Comparadun
• #8 Chubby Chernobyl Olive/tan
• #8 Plan B
• #8 Chernobyl Ant
• #16 Jig Inferno Black
• #16 Jig Napoleon
• #10 Pat’s rubber Leg Olive/brown
• #16 Jig Spanish Bullett Black

As we move to the end of July on the Big Hole River we continue to have good fishing and we are catching some stellar fish. You will find nocturnal stoneflies hatching and Pale Morning Duns in the morning hours. The afternoons have been heating up on some days and on other days we have had cloud cover and excellent fishing. Prospecting with a chubby Chernobyl or ant has brought up some very nice fish lately. We are also fishing dropper rigs with stone fly nymphs and small various jig mayfly patterns. Streamer anglers have enjoyed the morning fishing in the shallow riffles with sculpin patterns. We have not seen spruce moths or tricos yet, but these bugs will be our next major hatch on the Big Hole River. We continue to have smiling faces on the river and happy folks. If you are looking to book a trip we are running a 15% August discount for packages with lodging and fishing. Give us a call to inquire 406-835-3474.

Section 3 on the Big Hole is open with no restrictions. Section 3 is from Dickie Bridge to lower Maiden Rock FWP. This FWP Maiden Rock is out of the canyon. Please call if you have any questions. Section 1,2,4 and 5 on the Big Hole are on Hoot Owl Restrictions. This means you can only fish from Midnight to 2:00pm daily on these sections of the river.

Fly Recomendations:

• Plan B #8
• Chubby Chernobyl #10 Olive/Gold
• Parachute Ant #16
• Purple Craze #16
• Jig Napoleon #16 Olive
• Jig Frenchie #16
• Pat’s Stone $10 Olive/Brown/Black
• Jig Bullet Black #16
• Mini Loop Sculpin #4 Olive
• Lil’ Kim #6 Olive

The Big Hole fishing has continued to be good for us this week. We have been hitting the water early for some great nocturnal stonefly action on dry flies. Mid morning we are seeing PMD’s and drakes with a few caddis scattered around. The afternoon fishing has consisted of dry/dropper or double nymph rigs in the fast shallow riffles. Hopper season is right around the corner for us on the Big Hole River. We continue to see nice brown trout and rainbows everyday on guide trips. We currently have some openings for guide trips the last week of July. Give us a call to book your trip!

Currently Section 5: which is the last 15 miles of the Big Hole from Tony Shoonen FAS (Notch Bottom ) to the confluence of the Jefferson River is On Hoot Owl Fishing restrictions. This means you can only fish from Midnight to 2:00 pm daily. All of the other sections of the Big Hole currently do “not” have any restrictions. Please give us a call if you have any questions 406-835-3474.

Recommended Flies:

• Chernobyl Ant #8 Tan/Black
• Chubby Chernobyl #10 Cinnamon
• Purple Craze #14
• Brindle Chute #16
• Blow Torch #14
• Jig Napoleon #16 Olive
• Jig Lightning Bug #14
• Spanish Bullet #14