Winter Update: Spring Special

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The Beaverhead River is predicted to have a banner season for us. Clark Canyon Reservoir is 90% full for this date in time and when we have runoff in the spring it should fill to capacity. We will have excellent flows this season on the Beaverhead. Our winter flows on the Beaverhead have been around 200cfs which is fantastic for the trout. The winters we have had in the past when flows remain above 100cfs has allowed the fish to grow and stay healthy, also it has helped the fish habitat and bug life. Our spring fishing packages are available again. We are excited to have our own lodging this spring for our clients. Click here for more information. 

February 7, 2019 at Sunrise Fly Shop

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

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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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Streamer Season

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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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We have about the same conditions as last week to report.

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We have about the same conditions as last week to report.  Our Big Hole River fishing report this week is filled with more winter like conditions on the water.  Flows have slightly come up at the Maiden Rock gauge but we are still experiencing ice on the river and freezing water conditions.  Snow is predicted Thursday and Friday and then a slight warm up is predicted for the weekend.  Wade fishing is still your only options.  Our Big Hole river fly shop is still closed for the winter.  Our projected opening is April 1st.  If you are getting on the water we suggest the spring fed areas and tail outs of runs.  Bring your midge box, San Juan worms, and Pat’s Stones with you.  As for our Montana snowpack and Big Hole snowpack we are still pilling snow in the high country.  Since we last reported a nice winter storm hit us.  Currently the Big Hole valley is at 140% snow/water equivalency and our total snowfall is 118% of normal.

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