Where to go and what to fish is always the question in the morning at the shop.

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Where to go and what to fish is always the question in the morning at the shop. Well, the good news is that the entire Big Hole River is fishing well. Clarity is over 2 feet and the river has the perfect tea color right now. Stable flows and some hatches out there are making for active fish during the day. We have Blue Winged Olives hatching in the afternoon and March Brown mayflies. Streamers have been working well in the melrose area stripped off the banks. On the upper Big Hole we have mainly been fishing San Juan Worms and dead drifted zonkers. Look for the Mother’s Day Caddis to start popping this week on the lower Big Hole if water temperatures warm back up into the lower 50’s.

Sunrise Fly Shop guides getting clients the famed Big Hole trout this week

Recommended Flies : #12 Pheasant Tail #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla  #6 Yellow Zonker

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Rain in the valley the last 36 hours and snow in the high country.

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Rain in the valley the last 36 hours and snow in the high country. We are going to have a moist week here on the Big Hole. Flows look like they are stabalizing for now but that can change quickly. Visibility has been around 18 inches. We have been guiding on the upper Big Hole the last several days and fishing has been ok. We have been able to catch some very nice fish. Some browns up to 24 inches have been caught by our clients. Streamers and worm droppers are the best recipe for the trout right now. You will find some blue winged olives and march brown mayflies but the fish are not really interested in them. The worm hatch should continue to get better this week with the amount of precipitation we are receiving. Things are busy in our Big Hole River fly shop. We are the exclusive dealer of Simms, Patagonia, Scientific Angler, Fishpond, Costa Sunglasses, Winston Fly Rods, Hatch Reels and Lamson on the Big Hole.

Sunrise Fly Shop Client with a 24 inch brown caught on the Big Hole three days ago with our guide staff

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla  #6 Yellow Zonker

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You can’t ask for better April weather then this.

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You can’t ask for better April weather then this. Grab the flip flops and maybe leave the waders at home. The Big Hole River is still holding with 18 inches of visibility and no dramatic rise in water flows yet. This could all change but we will have to wait and see. It is always hard to predict what will happen in the next few days in the Spring. I can tell you right now the river is fishing ok and it is producing some nice fish lately. Mainly subsurface action. You will find some March brown mayflies out and some Skwalas. We have been sticking subsurface with nymphs and streamers. Our our guide trips have been up river around East Bank and down in the Maiden Rock Canyon lately. Grab the sunscreen and your favorite pair of shades and have fun on the river. 

Our Client caught this brute on the Big Hole this week

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla

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The entire Big Hole river is dropping in flow and clearing.

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The entire Big Hole river is dropping in flow and clearing. We have about 18 inches of visibility on the upper Big Hole. You will have a nice opportunity the next several days for good fishing on the Big Hole. Subsurface fishing will be your best option right now. Slow moving streamers off the banks, almost a dead drift and nymphs. Our best nymphs have been pink S.J. worms, and red S.J. worms. Water temperatures today are pretty cold but that will improve Sunday and Monday. It’s a good springtime opportunity to get out there and fish the next several days.

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla

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April Fishing Report

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Fishing has been pretty tough on the Big Hole lately. We had a boat on the upper Big Hole River today. Clarity was only good around the creeks entering the Big Hole. We managed to get some fish but it was not easy. We are hoping the cooler temperatures will drop the river flow and we will gain some clarity. The upper river is leveling off but we need it to drop and clear. Our Big Hole River guides are on our rivers daily with reports. Once we get to about 2 feet of visibility the Big Hole will fish very well. More reports will come as things get better.

Larry with a nice 20 inch brown caught on the upper Big Hole this week

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla

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We were back on the Big Hole yesterday and we have a Big Hole River guide on the river today

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We were back on the Big Hole yesterday and we have a Big Hole River guide on the river today. Yesterday we fished from Sportsman’s to East Bank. Clarity was not good. We maybe had 10 inches of visibility. Our clients still managed to catch some fish subsurface. Today our guided trip is heading up to Fishtrap. Clarity is better on the upper Big Hole right now. We are hoping the clarity improves today and tomorrow before the next push of water from the warm temperatures we are going to have. We are fishing streamers and large San Juan worms tight to the banks where the clarity is the best.

 

Susanne caught this nice fish on the upper Big Hole yesterday

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green;  #6 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla

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Warmer weather is coming tomorrow and into the weekend.

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Warmer weather is coming tomorrow and into the weekend. The warm up will get the fish moving and the bugs. We had a boat on the lower Big Hole River yesterday and we had more of the same action with midges ruling the day and a few surface eats late in the afternoon on the Skwala dry fly. We might get better Skwala activity this weekend as the water warms but there is no guarantee.  The fish have been slow to move to streamers but that can change during the next several days. We have Spring Special Big Hole guide trips out the next two days. Stop in the shop to check out our new fly patterns and advice on the fishing.

Recommended Flies : #12 Prince Nymph; #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green; #18 Shop Vac; #18 Micro Mayfly; #10 San Juan Worm; #10 Mr. Beam Skwala #10 Bullet Head Skwala #8 J.J. Special #10 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Sunrise Sculpzilla

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Spring Special

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Spring has arrived and fishing has been alright.

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Spring has arrived and fishing has been alright. We just finished our first two guide days on the Big Hole River. We had a spectacular 50 degree day and today the high was 35 degrees with snow. Both days fished well and in fact the best fish we caught were in the snow and cold temperatures. the Big Hole is in great shape clarity wise and flow. Your main hatch on the river right now are midges. When I say midges I mean tons of them. We had several hours where the river was blanketed with midges. You will find a few fish up and eating them but not many. Our best flies were sub surface; Micro worms, and #18 micro mayflies, #18 zebra midges, #18 pheasant tails. Fish are still in their winter holes, lets remember it is still March and water temperatures are hovering in the upper thirties and some days getting into the mid forties. Things will pick up dramatically during our next warm spell. When that warm up will be is still a mystery. Winter is back for the next several days according to the weather man. The Big Hole Basin snowpack is over 110% and still gaining. We are currently fishing from Maiden Rock down to the Notch. We are running shuttles, guiding Spring Specials and 2016 inventory is arriving daily.  Give us a call for all of the above information 406.835.3474.

Rob with a nice brown caught today on the Big Hole River

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Beaverhead River Fishing Report

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Happy new year to everyone and we are glad to get out our first Beaverhead River fishing report of the season. It’s pretty quiet in Southwest Montana and we are enjoying a great valley snowpack and a slightly above average snowpack for the Jefferson drainage, which includes the Beaverhead River valley. Currently Clark Canyon Reservoir is 50% full so an above average snowpack will increase the chances of the reservoir filling up this spring. The Beaverhead is a good place to get some winter fishing done. You have options of Poindexter Slough and everything below Pipe Organ Bridge is open to fishing right now on the Beaverhead. It’s been a pretty chilly winter in Southwest Montana. We have seen only a handful of days reaching above 32 degrees in the valley. We will keep you posted throughout the winter season.

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