It has been a crazy week here on the Big Hole River.

by sunriseflyshop

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It has been a crazy week here on the Big Hole River. Every year we get the spring thaw in the valley and that occurred this week. On Wednesday some major ice jams broke on the upper Big Hole. Currently we are ice free all the way up to Mudd Creek. The Big Hole River had a major flush occur on Wednesday as the ice jams broke, which made a muddy mess on the entire river. When the ice flows broke the river went over 5,000cfs here in Melrose. Currently the river has dropped to a manageable flow of 2,200cfs. A huge improvement has occurred and it will continue to get better. Currently we have around 18 inches of visibility here in Melrose. The river will start to fish this weekend. I don’t think it will be stellar but you will be able to catch a few fish subsurface on nymphs and streamers. Besides low visibility the cold water temperatures will make the fishing tough. We need the temperatures to get into the mid 40’s and currently they are in the upper 30’s. You will find the warmest water conditions around Melrose this weekend for fishing. Accessibility and hazards are too dangerous to float anything above Jerry Creek at the point.

Recommended Flies: #8 San Juan Worm Pink/red/Wine; #4 Yellow Yummy; #4 Sparkle Minnow; #6 Flash Minnow; #8 Prince Nymph; #8 Pat’s Stone

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We have kicked off the 2019 fishing season on the Big Hole ….

by sunriseflyshop

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We have kicked off the 2019 fishing season on the Big Hole with a stellar week of fishing and then the river blew out yesterday and is worse today due to an incredible valley floor snowpack that has been melting. This is by no means the “runoff” for the season but things are not good at the moment. The Maiden Rock gauge and lower river gauges on the Big Hole River are all rising and the river around Melrose has only about a foot of visibility. This is a great time to take a break on the freestone rivers and head to tailwater fisheries. We have trips this week heading up to the Missouri River. Here is a link to guide trips on The Land of The Giants. 

Book Your Spring Special Today! 

Sunrise Fly Shop Guide Chris “Romo” Getting after it between guide days

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Big Hole River Fishing Report

Fall fishing on the Big Hole River has been pretty good for us so far this month.

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall fishing on the Big Hole River has been pretty good for us so far this month. River flows are in excellent shape and the trout have been healthy this season. Our fall hatches are winding down for the year. On the warmer afternoons you will find some Blue Winged Olives and mahogany duns. On the cold days you will need to stay subsurface with nymphs and streamers. Your best window of active fish feeding is around 10:00 am to 4:00pm. Darker streamers have been working the best lately for us. Time to get the last couple floats of the year in before winter is here.

Check out our Sunrise fly Shop Lodging Here. Call for availability 406-835-3474

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Recommended Flies:

#4 Smokin’ Mirrors
#4 Sparkle Minnow
#4 Little Kim Copper
#6 Pat’s Stone
#6 Flash minnow
#8 Chubby Chernobyl (UV) (Gold) (Purple)

#12 Mahogany Dun
#12 Purple Rooster
#12 Red Copper John
#12 Silver Lightning Bug
#12 Bloom’s Caddis
#14 Purple Haze
#16 Split Winged BWO
#16 Blue Winged Olive Comparadun

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The flows on the upper Big Hole are stable and the flow around Melrose are on a slight increase today.

by sunriseflyshop

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The flows on the upper Big Hole are stable and the flow around Melrose are on a slight increase today. We have been fishing on the stretches above the Wise River on the Big Hole and around Melrose. Clarity is around 3 feet and the fishing has been pretty good. We have had hatches of Mother’s Day Caddis on the stretches around Melrose and the upper Big Hole has had hatches of March Brown’s, gray drakes, and blue winged olives. We did an evening float below Melrose last night and streamer fishing was very good. On the upper river we have been fishing streamers, worms, and some gray drake dries in the back eddies. It should be a great weekend on the Big Hole coming up!

Sunrise Fly Shop Client Dustin with a Big Hole Brown from yesterday

Recommended Flies: #10 Gray Drake; #12 X Caddis; #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Olive Chubby; #8 Bullet Head Skwalla; #10 Pat’s Stone (Olive/Brown); #8 San Juan Worm; #6 Flash Minnow (Olive); #6 Smokin’ Mirrors (Black); #6 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Little Kim; #6 Screamer (Yellow) (Olive)

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he Big Hole River is almost entering flood stage in Melrose.

by sunriseflyshop

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The Big Hole River is almost entering flood stage in Melrose. With the heavy rain predicted the next couple days I would think the river will continue to climb. It is downright dangerous to float the Big Hole unless you are well above the Wise River. If you must get out and float (which I suggest you stay home and tie flies) I would do a stretch around Mudd Creek or Fishtrap. Fishing has been tough lately and it won’t get better until the flows drop. We will keep you posted when conditions improve. Even though the river is high and off color we have managed to get some good fish lately but we aren’t catching many.

Spring Special guided fishing details are here. 3 night 2 day fishing Packages starting at $595 per person 

Robert Harp with a fantastic Big Hole Brown caught a couple days ago on the Big Hole River

Recommended Flies: #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Olive Chubby; #8 Bullet Head Skwalla; #10 Pat’s Stone (Olive/Brown); #8 San Juan Worm; #6 Flash Minnow (Olive); #6 Smokin’ Mirrors (Black); #6 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Little Kim; #6 Screamer (Yellow) (Olive)

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We are in a nice spring window of fishing at the moment.

by sunriseflyshop

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We are in a nice spring window of fishing at the moment. With this said, anything can happen to change the fishing since we have a tremendous snowpack this year. Currently we have a foot of visibility on the Big Hole and it is fishing ok. We have done the best sub surface with streamers and nymphs. You might find some fish up eating march brown’s and sqwallas but for the most part the fish have been feeding underneath for us. Nice spring weather on tap for the next few days and currently the river is somewhat stable.

Spring Special guided fishing details are here. 3 nights lodging 2 days guided fishing packages starting at $595 per person 

 Sunrise guide Lee Coyle with a nice Big Hole brown caught yesterday

Recommended Flies: #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Olive Chubby; #8 Bullet Head Skwalla; #10 Pat’s Stone (Olive/Brown); #8 San Juan Worm; #16 Shop Vac; #18 Zebra Midge; #16 Psycho May (olive); #6 Flash Minnow (Olive); #6 Smokin’ Mirrors (Black); #6 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Little Kim; #6 Screamer (Yellow) (Olive)

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The Big Hole is on the drop, which is great news.

by sunriseflyshop

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The Big Hole is on the drop, which is great news. As far as clarity goes it is starting to improve. Up around east Bank we had about 18 inches of visibility and around Melrose we had about a foot of clarity today. We should see this clarity improve as the river drops. No guarantees that the fishing will be good this weekend but at least it looks like improving conditions to be able to catch fish. We will keep you posted.

Spring Special guided fishing details are here. Packages starting at $595 per person 

Recommended Flies: #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Olive Chubby; #8 Bullet Head Skwalla; #10 Pat’s Stone (Olive/Brown); #8 San Juan Worm; #16 Shop Vac; #18 Zebra Midge; #16 Psycho May (olive); #6 Flash Minnow (Olive); #6 Smokin’ Mirrors (Black); #6 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Little Kim; #6 Screamer (Yellow) (Olive)

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It’s spring and conditions can change quickly for the better or worse

by sunriseflyshop

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It’s spring and conditions can change quickly for the better or worse. Yesterday conditions changed for the worse. The upper Big Hole ice off event is currently underway. Ice is breaking up on the upper Big Hole, which has turned the river to about only a foot of visibility and the water temperatures have dropped significantly. We will keep you updated when conditions improve. It should be a few days before the river starts to clear up.

Spring Special guided fishing details are here. Packages starting at $595 per person 

Notice: SALMONFLY FISHING ACCESS WILL BE CLOSED FRIDAY, APRIL 13th TO REPAIR THE CATTLE GUARD

Recommended Flies: #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Olive Chubby; #8 Bullet Head Skwalla; #10 Pat’s Stone (Olive/Brown); #8 San Juan Worm; #16 Shop Vac; #18 Zebra Midge; #16 Psycho May (olive); #6 Flash Minnow (Olive); #6 Smokin’ Mirrors (Black); #6 Sparkle Minnow; #4 Little Kim; #6 Screamer (Yellow) (Olive)

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June has been off to a high water start.

by sunriseflyshop

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June has been off to a high water start. The Big Hole is almost at flood stage around Melrose. We would not suggest floating in the Melrose area due to high flows right now. Our Big Hole River guides have been fishing the upper Big Hole. Above the Wise River the Big Hole has 2 feet of clarity on the banks. We have been successful with dead drifting streamers, worms and stone fly nymphs. This is a good time to get all of your gear ready for the Salmonfly Hatch. We are getting close to the hatch and we will keep you posted once we see the bugs. We are hoping the river drops before the bugs start to hatch. The first area that we will see the Salmonflies will be around the Glen Access site.

Mark that calendar for June 10th. Our 2nd Annual Salmonfly Fest will be from 5pm – 9pm on June 10th.  We have music from Smokestack and the Foothill Furry. We have food from Brunchies, and Rollin Bites brick oven Pizza. Beaverhead Brewery will be here, and Rattlesnake Distillery. We have giveaways and raffle items from Patagonia, Winston Rods, Simms Fishing Products, Dirty Water Fly Company, Bauer Reels, Scientific Anglers and much more. 

Sunrise Fly Shop Client Corky with a Big Hole River brown trout

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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The massive ice jams and flooding events that took place last week are all behind us on the Big Hole.

by sunriseflyshop

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The massive ice jams and flooding events that took place last week are all behind us on the Big Hole. You will still see large ice chunks the size of small VW’s pushed up over the banks of the upper Big Hole. The entire river is flowing ice free at this point and the river is starting to come into shape. Clarity is improving daily and water temperatures should start climbing this week to activate the fish throughout the day as the water flows continue to drop. We had some Big Hole River guides out today scouting the river and they had some success in very specific locations. It should be a good week on the Big Hole and it is time to start thinking about the Skwala hatch. We will keep you posted on when the hatch starts and it’s movement on the lower Big Hole. As for now we would stay subsurface with Skwalla nymphs, San Juan Worms and slow moving streamers. Some Spring specials are still available. Click here for information on our Spring Special.

Sunrise fly Shop guide Rick Rossi with a beautiful brown caught today on the Big Hole River

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