Big Hole River Fishing Report

A new phenomenon has occurred in Southwest Montana, instead of snow in the valley we have rain! The grass is now beaming a lush green rather than being covered in 6″ of white snow. Spring is here!

With the warmer weather, the first acuatic life cycles began in ernst and the fish have been feeding at an aggressive pace. What we experienced this year on the Big Hole during the Skwalla hatch was nothing but spectacular. Warmer water temps brought forth the emergence of this spring time stonefly, and we were lucky enough to hit the right stretches on the right days for some great dry fly fishing. Throwing a size 8 to size 10 dry fly into the grassy banks on the the lower Hole was a welcome sight after weeks of nymphing slow deep pools targeting metabolically slower late winter and early summer trout. The takes were explosive, and we brought an average of 20 to 30 fish to the surface each day as the afternoon sun warmed the water and peaked feeding interest.

Streamer fishing throughout the river has been productive as well. The fish have been hard charging, as flashes of gold and silver can be seen as fish turn on a well placed streamer thrown in a pocket, tossed under bush, or dredged down a juicy seam. Unlike the Skwalla hatch, streamer fishing doesn’t end during the spring season, and we are looking forward to throwing these big bugs for the rest of the year.

Rainy weather, coupled with the absence of freezing night time temps have brought up the water level in the Big Hole over the past week. We are expecting water levels to continue to rise as the forecast calls for rainy weather this week and expected highs in the 70′s by this weekend. The warmer temps will no doubt bring a good amount of snow melt into the river systems, and may damper the fishing enough where clairty conditions prohibit fishing for a few days.

After the water levels out and the clarity starts to return, I’d be on the Big Hole as the caddis will explode!
Beaverhead River Fishing Report

What a blessing it is to have a river like the Beaverhead in your “back pocket”. Mostly impervious to spring runoff and snow melt, this highly consistent fishery has been nothing but productive this spring. While the caddis hatch still hasn’t quite popped, the fish have been gorging on bwo nymphs, sjw’s, midges, sow bugs, and assortment of caddis pupae and larvae. With the upper river closed until May 21, 2011, we’ve been putting in a lot of river time from Pipe Organ Bridge down to Barretts. The Beav has held more water between its banks this past winter and spring than its seen in almost 10 years. The higher flows haveprovided much needed cover, holding water, spawning gravel, and feeding lanes for the fish. As a result, the quality of fish we’ve put in the net, and the one we didn’t manage to land, have been substantially healthier and in better overall condition that in years past. Clark Canyon Reservoir sits at 94% capacity (before spring run off) and I can only imagine what those fish will look like in August after a full summer of high caloric feeding!

Our snow pack levels are above 140% of normal, and with a cooler than normal summer projected, we should have plenty of water to see us through the summer and into fall where the true effects of a full river will be seen.

We want to wish all the mothers a very happy Mothers Day, and hope to see you on the river.

Tight Lines

Justin