Big Hole River Fly Fishing Report

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Heavy rain over the last 4 days has the river on a nice bump in flows.  The river has remained clear and fishing well above Melrose.  Below Melrose a couple creeks have put the river off color.  The clarity below Melrose has improved this morning and should fish fine today below Melrose.  We have Trico’s hatching in the morning and then we are moving to hoppers, Ant’s and Beetles in the afternoon.  Nymphs that have been working are #10 girdle bugs, #16 Red Copper John’s, #18 Zebra Midges, #16 Batman nymphs.  Still no Spruce Moth’s, it is looking like we will not have a Spruce Moth hatch this year on the Big Hole River.  Time to get your hard boat back out.  The flows are fantastic on the Big Hole.

Flies:  #10 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #8 Rogue Stone golden, #10 Purple Haze; #16 PMD Cripple; #16 Rocky Mountain Mint, #18 Trico Spinner, #18 Trico Comparadun, #10 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #6 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #  10 Copper/Pearl Zonker

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No Spruce Moths yet, but solid fishing continues

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We have seen a few Spruce Moths over the last few days, but not nearly enough to get the fish keyed in on them yet.  Hopefully they will start to show up in the next few day.

Even without the moths, we have been having good fishing.  The fishing technique and top-producing fly has been changing based on the section you are fishing and the weather, but with a little experimenting we have been able to find some nice fish this week.

Hopper fishing has been good on the lower Big Hole.

Tricos are starting to come off near Jerry Creek giving anglers opportunities to catch fish on small dries.

Streamers have been producing very nice fish on the darker, cloudy days.

Nymphing stoneflies (Pat’s Rubber Legs) and small mayflies (Copper Johns) in the shallow riffles has been the most consistent technique during the past week.

Below are two nice fish that were caught this morning between Melrose and Brownes!

Flies:  #10 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #8 Rogue Stone golden, #10 Purple Haze; #16 PMD Cripple; #16 Rocky Mountain Mint, #18 Trico Spinner, #18 Trico Comparadun, #10 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #6 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #  10 Copper/Pearl Zonker

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Big Hole River Montana Fishing Report

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We are back to clear blue skies and the fishing continues to be very good.  We have PMD’s, Yellow Sallies, Nocturnal Stone flies and caddis hatching.  Your best dry fly fishing with the clear skies will be in the morning with PMD’s.  Mid day we have been doing very well in the riffle runs on #8 Pat’s Stones and #14 Copper John’s and Batman Nymphs.  We have a nice cool down from the summer heat tomorrow.  The Big Hole River flows remain excellent and our guides have been coming back each day with great success.

Scott Lewis with a nice 20 inch brown caught on the Big Hole Yesterday

Flies:  #10 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #8 Rogue Stone golden, #10 Purple Haze; #16 PMD Cripple; #10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #10 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #6 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #  10 Copper/Pearl Zonker

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Dry Fly Fishing Stays Hot

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The Big Hole River fishing report continues to be very good from our guides.  We have hatches of Golden Stones, PMD’s, Yellow Sallies and Caddis.  The best dry fly fishing has been in the morning and tapering off around 2:00 unless you get some cloud cover in the afternoons.  If you need to get down with a nymph dropper in the afternoon the fast riffle water about two feet deep is packed with trout right now.  We have been staying hooked up in the riffles with a size #8 Pat’s Stone and a red copper John or a Batman nymph.  Nocturnal Stone Flies are around and the fish are keyed into them at the right time of day.

Flies:  #10 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #8 Rogue Stone golden, #10 Purple Haze; #16 PMD Cripple; #10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #10 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #6 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

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Big Hole River Montana Fishing Report

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The Big Hole River is in perfect July shape.  We have great water flows and the hatches have been stellar.  The morning PMD fishing has been fantastic.  Fish have been looking up from daybreak till about 2 o’clock.  #10 Purple haze’s and Rocky Mountain Mint’s have been the dry flies our guides have been knocking them out with.  In the afternoon after the hatches taper off we have done well with a Golden stone dry and either a #10 Pat’s Stone dropper or a #10 Kyle’s PMD nymph.  You will have PMD’s, Drakes, and Golden Stones on the water.  We are starting to see some nocturnal stonefly shucks so we are not far off from some fantastic dawn fishing on big Chernobyl dry flies.

Big Hole River Nocturnal Stone Fly Shucks above Melrose

Flies: #8 Golden Cat Puke, #8 Rogue Stone golden, #10 Purple Haze  #8 Chubby Chernobyl #16 PMD Cripple black/gold#10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #10 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

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Hatches, hatches and more hatches.

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Hatches, hatches and more hatches.  The Salmonflies are tapering off but we have great dry fly fishing right now on the Big Hole.  Our hatches consist of Golden Stones, PMD’s, Caddis, and Drakes.  The dry fly fishing during the overcast days has been excellent.  Our Big Hole River guides have been on the upper Big Hole, Canyon sections, and the lower river.  We have had good reports on all sections of the River.  The flows are stable and the fish are looking up.  The Golden Stones dry fly fishing has been great in the Canyon.

A Big Hole Golden Stone

Flies: #4 Cat Puke, #4 Rogue Stone, #4 Fluttering Stone, #10 Purple Haze  #8 Chubby Chernobyl #16 PMD Cripple black/gold#10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #8 San Juan Worm; #4 Pat’s Stone #12 Red Copper John #16 Bat Man Nymph orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

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The willows were drooping over from the weight of the Salmonflies yesterday.

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The willows were drooping over from the weight of the Salmonflies yesterday.  It is going to be a great day out there.  We have Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Caddis, PMD’s and Drakes hatching.  The best Salmonfly hatch on the Big Hole is currently from Jerry Creek all the way down to Melrose.  We have had good reports today in the Maiden Rock Canyon and the Dewey Canyon with great success on the Salmonfly dry flies.  With the dropping water, and warming trend the river will continue to fish very well. 

Guide Rick Rossi and Rob Ware with a fabulous Big Hole Brown

Flies: #4 Cat Puke, #4 Rogue Stone, #4 Fluttering Stone, #10 Purple Haze  #8 Chubby Chernobyl #16 PMD Cripple black/gold#10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #8 San Juan Worm; #4 Pat’s Stone orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

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Big Hole River Salmonfly Hatch Update

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The overcast weather today has produced excellent dry fly activity this morning.  We have been waiting for the big bugs to move in the canyon and they are here!  We have had great reports from the Maiden Rock Canyon and Dewey Canyon.  With the overcast cool weather and the dropping water flows we are having a dream of a Salmonfly hatch.  The bugs are coming off slowly and making for some excellent dry fly fishing.   Salmonflies are hatching up in the Maiden Rock Canyon and we have good reports from the Dewey Canyon as well. The Salmonfly madness has begun, come join us in Melrose and bring the chaos.   

Flies: #4 Cat Puke, #4 Rogue Stone, #4 Fluttering Stone, #10 Purple Haze  #8 Chubby Chernobyl black/gold#10 Rocky Mountain Mint, #8 San Juan Worm; #4 Pat’s Stone orange/brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

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Salmonfly Hatch

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The Salmonfly Hatch started yesterday.  We had two guides float from Melrose to Glen, and both boats saw several adults flying, saw a lot of shucks in the grass and willows, and had great fishing.  They threw a Salmonfly Dry on top with a Stonefly Nymph dropper and had moderate success on the dry, and phenomenal fishing with the dropper.

We also had two guides go up river yesterday.  They didn’t see any Salmonfly Adults flying, but they too had good fishing.  The guides that went up river did not have as much success on dry flies, but they too caught fish on Stonefly Nymphs.

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What an amazing Spring

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As May comes to a close, we just wanted to take a look back at some of the fish that were caught in the last 6 weeks.  By no means is this all of the big fish that were landed, but it is a nice representation of the kind of Spring we have had on the Big Hole.  To all of you who fished with us this Spring – Thank You.  To all of you that thought about it, but didn’t make it out for a guided trip this Spring – You can book your Spring 2015 trip NOW!

For those of you looking for an actual fishing report – The Big Hole is still fishing very well up high, but now it looks like the middle and lower sections of the river are fishable again.  The flow is down below 7000cfs in Melrose, the water temps are in the mid 50’s, and the river is still dropping.  With cloudy weather in the forecast for the next several days, the streamer fishing in the canyon and the lower river should be good.

The River is still running extremely high and floating the river at these flows can be extremely dangerous.  If you choose to float the Big Hole, Please float with extreme caution.

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