Beaverhead River Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

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The upper Beaverhead River opened today for the general fishing season in Montana. The outflow from Clark Canyon Reservoir is only 114cfs this morning. the wade anglers are thrilled but the drifters will have a hard time below high Bridge. Not much for hatches right now on the Beaverhead. You will do best with sow bugs, scuds, and midge larva. Traffic will be busy there this weekend but should thin out by the week. If you want that tug from a trophy trout head down to the Beaverhead. If you are looking to take your drift boat on the Beaverhead at these low flows you will find it better to drift on the lower stretches. 

Recommended Flies: #18 Ray Charles; #16 Scud Tan; #18 Zebra Midge; #12 San Juan Worm; #18 Sow Bug Tan/Pink; #18 Micro Mayfly

 

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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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Beaverhead River Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

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Currently we are having a flushing flow on the Beaverhead. The prediction is several days with a release of 600cfs out of Clark Canyon Reservoir. So, with this happening the fishing is not an option right now on the Beaverhead. The river is dirty and won’t fish well until the flushing flows decrease. We will keep you updated when the fishing improves. The reason they are flushing the Beaverhead is to remove the silt build up below Clark Canyon Creek. 

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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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Beaverhead River Report

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing is good on the Beaverhead. Please remember that the river remains closed from the Dam down to Pipe Organ Bridge until the 3rd Saturday of May. Fishing below Pipe Organ has been good on Caddis and BWO’s. The river remains low until the irrigation season kicks off soon. 

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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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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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