Fresh Big Hole River Fishing Reports

The Beaverhead regular season opener was Saturday the 17th and although the water is low the bite is good. Nymphing is your best bet on the Beav’. A two fly drop shot rig is what we recommend. Best flies right now are Zebra midges #18-20 in black, red, olive. San Juan worms in red #14-18. Scuds and sow bugs #16-18 in tan, pink and natural. Not much for dry flies right now. The streamer bite is hit and miss. Cloudy days are your friend for streamers.

The Madison River is still pre runoff and offers some great fly fishing opportunities. Flows are up a bit to around 1300 cfs and visibility at about 2.5 to 3’. There are some caddis showing up on the lower stretches and fish will start looking up now. Nymphing and streamers are still your best bet to land some numbers. Run a standard in line indicator nymph leader with your first fly anout 5’ from your indicator and tie the second off the bend of the hook 18” to your second fly. The tried and true Pats rubber legs and a bright San Juan or Wire Worm has been a solid combination. A green caddis larvae is a good second fly choice if you see caddis on the water. An elk hair caddis in olive, tan or brown in a #16-14 along with a caddis pupae if you see risers, will get the job done. Look for soft spots, inside edges, boulders and color changes that indicate good trout holding water.

The pre runoff fishing on the Madison has been fantastic as expected. The flows are still low at around 1000 cfs and the water is perfectly clear. Most of the shelf ice from the gorge has melted except for closer to Ennis and to the lake. The Ennis boat and Valley Garden FAS’s are closed until FWP can get the sites rebuilt from the ice damage. The most productive method to catch trout is nymphing under an indicator. However, the streamer bite has heated up and there are blue winged olives in the afternoon. Cloudy days are your friend for streamers and dries. The standard rubber legs coupled with a wire or San Juan worm have been the best patterns. Others include the bead head Prince, Purple Psycho Prince, Pheasant Tail,, WD40-50, Zebra midge. Some good streamer patterns include mini Dungeons, Zonkers, Mini loop sculpins but others will certainly work. The dry fly fishing is going to be in softer water wirh a nice foam line. Side channels and soft pockets can hold rising fish.

Both the PMD and Yellow Sally hatches are in full swing and the fishing is as good as it gets! Current flows are pretty high at 900+ cfs but the fish don’t seem to mind. We’re primarily nymphing with an indicator and 2 flies but there are fish rising on some days, especially with clouds so dry flies are on the menu as well. Some of our favorite patterns. Nymphs; Pheasant Tail, Barr’s Emerger, Mitchell Split Case, Hunchback Infrequens, Frenchie, Kyles Yellow Sally, Perdigon hot spot Dry Flies; Pull Over, PMD Cripple, CDC Emerger, Sparkle Dun, Poly Wing Spinner, Rusty Spinner

The famed Pterinarcys Californicus or Giant Salmon Fly hatch has just started to show up on the stretches above Ennis on the Madison. These double bacon cheeseburger bugs are a favorite for trout when they show up. We’re having success nymphing and on the bug dry. A double rubber leg short leash nymphing rig is our most effective way to nymph. We are getting action on the surface using several different dry salmon fly patterns. The Rogue, Bank Robber and Chubby Chernobyl just to name a few. A little twitch is another trigger for the trout. The adult naturals are pretty active when they’re on the water. Also try a smaller Golden Stone if your getting refusals on the big bug.

The famous Salmonfly hatch is in full swing on the Big Hole right now. Every fish in the river is looking up for one of these trout double bacon cheeseburgers. The flows are a bit low but the visibility is great. Due to the lower flows we’re catching a fair number of fish not on the banks. Large Chubby Chernobyl’s sizes #6/4 in orange, gold or all black (use a sharpie). Of course there’s Golden Stones coming off as well so throw both patterns. You likely see the trout will sometimes prefer the smaller Golden sizes #8-10. If they’re refusing the big dry, try dropping a small rubber leg Stone under it.