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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Our Big Hole guides have had great fishing lately.

by sunriseflyshop

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Our Big Hole guides have had great fishing lately. You will still find Salmonflies around the Dewey Canyon area. Elsewhere on the river we are having hatches of Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMD’s and Caddis. Some of our best patters for dry flies have been purple craze’s in size #10 and Chubby’s in size #10. Our best nymph droppers off the dry flies have been #12 Red Copper John’s and #12 Pearl lightning bugs. In the cloudy weather we have had in the afternoons as the thunder storms creep up, we have had good streamer fishing with natural patterns. #4 Sculzilla’s and tan Zonkers have been working very well. I would focus on the riffle water with 3 to 4 feet drop offs right now.

Photo By Dan Armstrong Photography: Big Hole River Fly Shop

Flies: #4 Cat Puke #4 Fluttering Stone #4 Rogue Stone #6 Chubby, #12 Purple Haze #4Pat’s Stone Orange/Brown #8 San Juan Worm, #12 Pearl Lightning Bug #12 Red Copper John Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar; #4 Smoke N’ Mirrors #6 Yellow Zonker #10  #6 Bad Boy

Hello everyone:  As you may have noticed construction work on Silver Bridge located on the Big Hole River near Divide is beginning to be initiated by MDT and Anderson Construction.  In order to stage equipment, the work bridge must be reinstalled over the river.  Therefore a one day closure (Monday-June 22, 2015)of the Big Hole River is required for this installation.  Please be advised that the River will be closed to all occupation from 1000 ft. upstream to 1000 ft. downstream of Silver Bridge starting at 8 AM to Midnight, June 22, 2015.   Please see the attached notice.

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Here come the clouds that we have been waiting for.

by sunriseflyshop

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Here come the clouds that we have been waiting for.  Fishing has been ok lately, but inconsistent at times. The change is weather this week should get the fishing back on track. We still have Skwala stoneflies and March browns hatching but on the bright sunny days the fish have not been willing to stay on the surface feeding all day. Our best dropper in the morning and afternoons has been a size #10 olive/brown pat’s stone. For dry flies a #10 bullet head skwalla and #10 Mr. Beam has been our best pattern.  Don’t let the rising water on the hydrograph fool you.  The clarity is around 2 1/2 feet and the increase of flows will get the fish on the banks, which is a good thing right now for dry fly fishing.

Flies: #8 Mr. beam Skwala, #10 Bullet Head Skwala, #10 Pat’s Stone Brown/Green #8 San Juan Worm, Bellyache Minnoe Olive #8 Sparkle Minnow, #4 Yellow/Black Beldar

Dave Leta with a nice Big Hole Rainbow

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Big Hole River Fall Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

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Fall fishing is here and you better get your streamer box out for the next several days.  Overcast, rain, and some rising water flows will get the brown trout chasing streamers very well.  The Big Hole is running gin clear right now.  Don’t let the rising water from the rain intimidate you.  We have been doing well with the mini loop sculpins, Trevor’s Sculpins, Sparkle minnows, and J.J.’s.  Baetis, and Mahogany Duns are hatching in locations in the canyon and lower river.  Nymphing has been solid with Pat’s Stones, #18 Red Copper John’s, Silver Lightning bugs, and Micro Mayflies.

Flies:  #12 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #10 Purple Haze; #16 Baetis 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   #4 Mini Look Sculpin, #4 Trevor’s Sculpin

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Big Hole River Fall Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

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We had our first dusting of snow in the high country a couple days ago.  Fall is in the air and we have a great stretch of weather ahead of us.  Cool mornings, and warm afternoons are on tap for the next several days.  We have been nymphing in the mornings, and throwing dry flies in the afternoons.  In the morning a size #16 Silver Lightning bug, #16 Psycho May flies, #16 pheasant tails, and #18 red copper John’s have been producing nice fish.  In the afternoon you will find baetis hatching, and Mahogany duns.  #14 grey rocky mountain mint’s and #16 split wing Blue wing’s have been our dries of choice.  The Big Hole River Flow still remain above average for this time of year.

Flies:  #12 Chubby Chernobyl Yellow/Purple/Black; #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

by sunriseflyshop

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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

by sunriseflyshop

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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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The Big Hole is Getting Bigger

by sunriseflyshop

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Well, it looks like runoff is officially here.  At 9:00 on Memorial Day, the Big Hole in Melrose was at 7800 cfs. But even though the lower river is unfishable, the upper reaches of the river are still looking good.  We fished from Mudd Creek to East Bank yesterday and had a very respectable day.  The visibility at Mudd Creek was more than two feet and the flow was very manageable.  We caught several fish over 20 inches slow stripping a Coffee Bugger with a red San Juan worm trailer.

It is important to note that we do not recommend floating on the Big Hole River below the Wise River.  The river in Melrose is approaching flood stage, and floating the Big Hole at these flows can be very dangerous.  If you choose to fish the Big Hole, please float with caution.

Below are two of the nice Browns the Bob and his son Grahm caught yesterday on their float from Mudd Creek to East Bank

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Streamer Season

by sunriseflyshop

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The colder weather over the past several days has brought the flows on the Big Hole River down to around 2500cfs and increased the visibility to more than two feet.  This lowering of flows and improvement of the clarity has made for some great spring fishing.  Even though we still haven’t really seen much sign of the Skwallas, the streamer fishing has been really good.  As usual for the Big Hole, yellow has been the hot streamer color, and slow stripping has been the most successful technique.  Below are three  nice fish that one of our clients caught this past weekend.

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