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We are still seeing a lot of the Big Bugs from Thompson’s Corner all the way into the Maiden Rock Canyon, and the dry fly fishing has been really good. Today the dry fly fishing remained very good even into the heat of the day. Golden Stones seemed to be working better in the afternoon hours.
Photo of Ryan Barba and an army of Salmonflies by Brett Seng
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It’s been a busy weekend on the Big Hole. We are experiencing the most Salmonflies we have seen in about 10 years on the Big Hole. Currently the hatch is on the entire River. Some of our best dry fly fishing has been from Jerry Creek down to Melrose. Our best dry fly fishing has been in the morning and late afternoon. You will find Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies and Caddis hatching right now. Flows have been dropping and water conditions are ideal right now for dry fly fishing. During the middle of the week you will find the river traffic to be much more pleasant. It is time to throw the big bugs and hold on tight. Our Big Hole River guides have been catching clients some very nice fish lately.
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Early reports from today are that Salmonflies are flying between Maiden Rock and Brownes Bridge. From what we are hearing, it sounds like there are a lot of bugs in the air and that the fish are really starting to key in on them.
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It is still in the early stage of the hatch, but we have seen a lot of shucks in the willows and saw a few of the Big Bugs flying. With the weather warming up over the next several days, Salmonflies should really be flying by this weekend. Most of the fish that we have caught over the last few days have still been on the Salmonfly nymph, but we are getting a few nice fish to come up and eat the dry. It really feels like the fish are starting to look up, and the fishing this weekend should be great.
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Fishing has remained pretty good on the Big Hole during these rainy days of June. The water is up a bit today but that will not affect your fishing. Clarity remains good and the Salmonfly nymphs are moving around. We spotted about 10 Salmonfly shucks at Brownes bridge this morning. It is still early but a few Salmonflies are crawling and hatching on the lower Big Hole. Some warm and sunny weather will get the bugs flying around once they hatch. Right now dropping a #4 Pat’s Stone has been working very well.
Flies: #6 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #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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Tomorrow marks the first day of June and we are gearing up for the Salmonfly hatch on the Big Hole River. We are going to have great flows and clarity for the Salmonfly hatch this year. Currently, we are near average flows for this date in time at the Melrose gauge. We do not have any Salmonflies on the lower Big Hole River but they should start hatching soon. We have had great nymph fishing on #4 Pat’s Stoneflies which means the fish are keying into the Salmonfly nymph as the nymphs are moving closer to the banks. The Salmonflies will start to hatch around Glen. We will let you know when we first see these bugs. Fishing remains good on the upper Big Hole and throughout the entire river system. Clarity remains good and flows are currently stable.
Flies: #10 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #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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Click here to change this textaDamp, Wet, Moist, Soaked…However you want to describe it, that is how it has felt. With the rain that we have seen in the last two weeks, it has felt more like the Pacific Northwest than the High Plaines Desert of Southwest Montana. Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t complaining. This rain is helping make up of the below-average snowpack that we received over the winter.
What has all of this precipitation done for the fishing? It has been great for the fishing. The river is around 3500cfs and the banks are full, and with those banks saturated from all the recent rains, the river is full of worms. So while we wait for the Salmonfly hatch, we can continue to enjoy great subsurface fishing with San Juan Worms, Stonefly Nymphs, and Streamers
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After the heavy rains that we got last week, the river is finally dropping and clearing. The visibility around the Salmon Fly fishing access is about 2 feet, and even better than that if you get above the Wise River. The fishing has been really good over the last couple days. We have still been using dry dropper rigs on the upper river with Pat’s Rubber Legs, Pheasant Tails, and San Juan Worms. From Jerry Creek down, the Caddis and March Browns are hatching with more consistency and the dry fly fishing had been pretty good.
Here is a nice brown that Pete got near Fishtrap FAS
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Sunrise Fly Shop Open Positions
Fly Shop Specialist / Customer Service and Sales:
Starts: Mid May 2015
Hours: Full Time/Seasonal
Shop duties include high end customer service providing information regarding the fishing on the Big Hole River. This position includes shuttling of vehicles. Fly shop cleaning, and general maintenece of inventory. You will need some Point of Sale/POS skills which means familiarity with computers. Strong phone skills are a plus too.
Requirements:
Send Resumes to [email protected] 406-835-3474
Shuttle Drivers 2015
Starts: ASAP
Shuttle drivers work very hard, and should expect hours to be 2-6 hours a day. The schedule is pretty flexible, and it’s a great way for those looking to stay busy and earn a few bucks during the summer.
Requirements:
Contact [email protected] 406-835-3474
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The weather has changes significantly in the lats 48 hours. After a couple week of sunny days with daytime highs reaching the 70’s, Mother Nature decided it was too early for Summer to start. For the next several days we are forecasted to have overcast skies with cooler temps, and a chance of precipitation every day. This change in weather has probably slowed the arrival of the Mother’s Day Caddis hatch, but it has been great for getting more water in the river as well as improving the overall fishing. With the bright sunny weather we had been experiencing, the spring streamer fishing hadn’t been as good as it usually is in May. But now that we are in a pattern of overcast skies, you can expect the streamer fishing to be really good for the next week. Yellow, Orange and Olive were the best streamer colors for our guides yesterday. For all you “Streamer Junkies” that have been waiting for a good time to hit the Big Hole, this might be the weekend you have been waiting for.
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