Dry Fly Fishing Stays Hot

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Hatches, hatches and more hatches.

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Big Hole River Salmonfly Hatch Update

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

BIg Hole River Salmonfly Hatch Update

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

Just got our first morning report today of the Big Hole River Salmonfly Hatch.  Fantastic fishing from lower Maiden Rock (FWP) to Brownes bridge.  We have salmonflies from Glen all the way up past Melrose.  We do not have a report of any adult Salmonflies in the Maiden Rock Canyon yet or the Dewey Canyon.  We have been throwing the Salmonfly dry with a Pat’s Stone nymph below it.  Some of our best patterns lately has been the Cat Puke, and Mutant Stone.

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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Salmonfly Hatch

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

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.

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Big Hole River Salmonfly Waiting Game

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

Conditions are perfect for the Salmonflies to pop but we have not seen any of the big bugs yet.  We are looking every morning before we open the shop at the bridges and willows to see if we spot any Salmonfly shucks.  The river is dropping and the clarity is about 3 feet with the perfect tea color tint that the Big Hole carries this time of year.  We have been doing very well on the lower Big Hole with Salmonfly nymphs…hmmm that means they should hatch any day now.  Get ready to race over here because the hatch is almost ready to pop.  We will keep you up to date once we spot some Salmonflies.  The entire Big Hole has been fishing very well on streamers and nymphs with the occasional big fish eating the dry fly.  It should be a great Big Hole River Salmonfly hatch this year.

Flies: #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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

The Big Hole is Getting Bigger

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

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

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Big Hole River Montana Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

The upper Big Hole River continues to drop and the fishing yesterday was stellar.  It should be another great day on the upper Big Hole. Clarity is around 2 feet up there and once you get above the Wise River and Deep Creek the volume of water decreases and your prospecting on the banks becomes very manageable at these high flows.  We have caddis hatching in the Melrose section but flows are rather high for any dry fly fishing. Streamers and San Juan worms has been producing the best fishing on the upper Big Hole River.  Flows at the Mudd Creek gauge continue to drop and the fishing will remain good up there until the next bump in flows.  Our Big Hole River guides continue to produce huge brown trout this spring.

Our Client Larry with a wonderful Big Hole Brown caught yesterday

Flies: #12 Elk Hair Caddis #12 CDC Caddis #10 Purple Haze #10 Rocky Mountain Mint #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Bullet Head Skwala; #8 Rogue River Skwala  #8 San Juan Worm; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

The Big Hole is on the drop river wide.

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

The Big Hole is on the drop river wide.  It is amazing how this river comes into fishing shape quickly.  We have 2 feet of visibility on the upper river and about 18 inches of visibility here in Melrose.  I think it will flat out fish today.  We will be heading to the upper Big Hole to get above the large volume of water.  Streamers and worms will be the ticket today for the big boys.  We will let you know how it goes. Caddis are as far up as Glen right now.

Flies: #12 Elk Hair Caddis #12 CDC Caddis #10 Purple Haze #10 Rocky Mountain Mint #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Bullet Head Skwala; #8 Rogue River Skwala  #8 San Juan Worm; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]

Big Hole River Montana Fishing Report

by sunriseflyshop

[eye_row data_width=”container”][eye_column data_width=”0-12-0″][eye_text]

Up up and away goes the hydrologic graph.  The entire Big Hole River is not going to fish well today.  You are much better off sitting in front of your vise and tying flies than fishing today.  All of the gauges on the river are increasing in flow.  Once the upper river stabilizes the fishing will be good again.  Clarity is not as much of an issue above the Wise River as increasing flows.  Once we get a break from the runoff and rain we will let you know.  Our Big Hole River fishing report changes daily this time of year since we are in runoff.  The Big Hole is a unique river since it does not muddy up as bad as other freestone rivers during runoff.  We will be fishing again once the flows stabilize.  Check back with us as we will let you know once it is time to get the boat back on the Big Hole.

A nice upper Big Hole brown

Flies: #12 Elk Hair Caddis #12 CDC Caddis #10 Purple Haze #10 Rocky Mountain Mint #8 Mr. Beam; #10 Bullet Head Skwala; #8 Rogue River Skwala  #8 San Juan Worm; #10 Pat’s Stone Olive/Brown: #8 RL Stone; #6 J.J. Special #4 Coffey Bugger; #4 Bad Boy #4 Yellow Zonker

[/eye_text][/eye_column][/eye_row]