Spring has arrived and fishing has been alright.

by sunriseflyshop

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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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Happy New Year to everyone as we get out our first Big Hole River fishing Report of the year.

by sunriseflyshop

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Happy New Year to everyone as we get out our first Big Hole River fishing Report of the year. We are looking forward to a great 2016 and the Big Hole River drainage and valley is covered with a slightly above average snowpack. The river is pretty iced over and you will only find certain spring fed areas fishable. The trout are pretty dormant this time of year. The snowpack in the Jefferson drainage is 107% of normal, which includes the Big Hole River, Beaverhead River and Jefferson River. This is a nice start to the snowpack but we still have three months of accumulating snowpack ahead of us. With this said it is too early to predict our water supply for the 2016 season but we are off to a good start. Our valley snowpack is very good, which always makes a big difference in gaining good water supply for our rivers and replenishing the ground water supply. The snow sites that record the snowpack on the below image is based on high elevation snowpack. It is nice to report that our valleys also have significant snowpack for this date in time. We will keep you posted throughout the winter season.

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Fishing has been pretty good on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fishing has been pretty good on the Big Hole. We have had our best fishing on streamers and nymphs lately. Our best nymphs have been #16 pheasant tail’s, #8 Pat’s Stoneflies, #16 Micro Mayflies, #18 lightning bugs, and San Juan worms. Streamer fishing has been good on the overcast days. We have done well on white sculpzillas, J.J.’s and Mini loop sculpins. If you find dry fly fishing it will be from around 1 – 4 pm. We have had some Blue Winged Olives, and Mahogany Duns hatching in the afternoons. Our best dry flies have been #14 parachute adams, #16 Split wing BWO’s.

Kim Butler with a fantastic Brown caught on the Big Hole this week

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Fall is here and the fishing has been excellent.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall is here and the fishing has been excellent. Cool mornings and clear and sunny afternoons lately. We are due for some moisture in the middle of the week coming up. In the sunny weather the dry fly fishing has been tough but the dry dropper fishing has been excellent. We have been throwing an October caddis attractor for a dry fly and either a #10 San Juan worm dropper or a #10 Pat’s Stone dropper. The brown trout are getting aggressive before the spawn and are eating very well. Streamer fishing has been good in the mornings. We have done well on sparkle minnows, mini loop sculpins and J.J.’s. Flows remain about average for this time of year.

Flies:   #16 Split Wing BWO, #16 Purple Craze, #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint Olive,  #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #16 Psycho Mayfly, #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin #6 J.J. Special

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Fall fishing has arrived on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall fishing has arrived on the Big Hole. We had a nice bump in flows due to mountain snow and valley rain, which has the Big Hole in great shape. We have a great stretch of weather coming up with day time highs in the lower 70’s and dry weather. Fall hatches are also currently in full swing on the Big Hole. You will find blue winged olive’s and mahogany dun’s hatching. A few October caddis have also been around. Streamers have been working ok, but not great lately. Our best streamer fishing has been in the afternoons with sparkle minnows. Our nymph droppers of choice have been san juan worms, pat’s stones, and psycho may flies.

Flies:   #16 Split Wing BWO, #16 Purple Craze, #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint Olive,  #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #16 Psycho Mayfly, #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin #6 J.J. Special

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fishing has been very good this week.

by sunriseflyshop

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fishing has been very good this week. In the mornings we have had good fishing in the slow tail outs of the runs for large brown trout. We have been mainly catching them subsurface on Pat’s Stone’s, and #16 Super Flash Pheasant tails. Around noon hour the Blue Wing’s and PMD’s are showing up and the fish have been willing to eat dry flies. Our best dry flies are #16 Split Wing Blue Winged Olives and #16 Purple Craze’s. Streamers have been taking fish in the fast riffles in the afternoon hours. Look for sunny weather the next few days, with the clouds and moisture coming next week.

Photo: Dan Armstrong Photography

Flies:   #16 Split Wing BWO, #16 Purple Craze,   #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint Olive,  #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin #6 J.J. Special

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We are receiving some much needed wet weather in the Big Hole Valley right now.

by sunriseflyshop

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We are receiving some much needed wet weather in the Big Hole Valley right now. Flows are on the rise but the river is remaining clear. We are currently on a step increase in flows at the upper river gauges and the Maiden Rock gauge is over historic average flow, which we have not seen in many weeks. The entire river will see a nice bump in flows from the storm we are receiving. With the wet weather you will have good baetis hatches and maybe some Mahogany duns. Streamers will be affective today with the increase in flows and cloudy weather. I would have on a J.J. Special for my streamer of choice.

Flies:   #16 Split Wing BWO, #16 Purple Craze,   #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint Olive,  #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin #6 J.J. Special

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Similar good news to report on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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Similar good news to report on the Big Hole. Trico’s, PMD’s and some Drakes hatching on the river lately. Your most dependable hatch right now is the Trico Hatch. You will find a great spinner fall around 10:30 a.m. In the afternoon we have been throwing ant patterns, hoppers, and nymphs. Your best nymphs in your box are #10 Pat’s Stone’s, #18 Micro Mayflies and #18 and Psycho Mayflies. Streamers have also been working well in the riffles. Our favorite streamers have been Mini Loop sculpins and Copper Zonkers.

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

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Say Goodbye to Hoot Owl Closures

by sunriseflyshop

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Hoot Owl Closures will lift on 8/21. You will be able to fish 24 hours a day from below the North Fork all the way down to Notch Bottom. So you have over 80 miles of river to fish. Below Notch Bottom on the Big Hole is closed due to low flows, which is the very lower end of the Big Hole. We have had good Trico fishing and some flying ant fishing in the afternoons. Some afternoons have been thick with ants. Nymphing and streamer fishing the fast riffles have also produced some good activity lately for large fish. Flows remain low but the angler can still do well on the Big Hole.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #10Pat’s Stone Black/Brown, #16 Green Machine, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

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Hatches on the Big Hole consist of Tricos

by sunriseflyshop

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Hatches on the Big Hole consist of Tricos, Spruce Moths, PMD’s and hoppers. You will find the Trico hatch starting around 10:00 am. The Spruce Moth hatch has been weak lately but it should get better as day time highs get into the 80’s this week. Nymphing has been consistent in the afternoons. We have been dropping either a #10 Pat’s Stone or a #16 Flashback Pheasant tail off our hoppers. Other droppers that have been working well are #16 Psycho Mayflies, #16 Shimmer Nymphs, and #16 Red Copper John’s. If you like to drag streamers, you will have success in the shallow riffles with a #6 McCune’s Sculpin or Mini loop sculpins.

Montana Hoot Owl and fishing closure resources link. 

Photo: Dan Armstrong

Flies:   #12 CDC Spruce Moth #12 Spruce Moth #12 X Caddis  #18 Trico Comparadun #18 HIgh Vis Trico Spinner #12 Chubby, #14 Rocky Mountain Mint #16 Purple Haze, #16 PMX Olive,  #8Pat’s Stone Black/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #14 Pearl Lightning Bug #14 Red Copper John #16 Superflash Pheasant Tail #16 Shimmer Nymph #12 Psycho Mayfly #14 Kyle’s Sally #6 Bellyache Minnow Olive, #8 Sparkle Minnow,  #6 Copper Zonker  #6 Mini Loop Sculpin

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