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FALL 2003 NEWSLETTER |
Celebrating our 20th year of business, Big Hole River Outfitters opened a much-anticipated season of Montana fly fishing. The snow pack in the mountains was one of the best we've had in over six years, and the Big Hole river was bank full in early June with the big salmon flies coaxing up numerous trophy trout that haunt it's storied runs and pools.
The hatches on the Big Hole were prolific through the month of June and some clients like Dick and Helen Bogan, who have fished with us since the late eighties, had the best fly fishing they've ever had on the Big Hole. Helen said there was one day in particular that she'll never forget when Dick and her fished nothing but a parachute adams and caught over 50 trout up to 19". With water levels higher than we've seen in many years, the Big Hole had a good flushing out which it's needed for sometime and this will improve the overall ecology of the river substantially.
The Beaverhead has fished extremely well on the ranch that I lease for private access to the river. The 3 1⁄2 mile stretch of water has produced some incredible dry fly days. There were some days when the pale morning duns started about 11:00 AM and lasted until 4:00 PM. Big brown trout would move into their feeding lanes and sip the dainty mayflies on the surface or take emerging nymphs just under the surface. We used #16 sparkle duns to catch most of the trout, but other pale morning dun (PMD's) patterns we had success with were #16 Harrop transitional duns, #16 zelon cripples, #16 Kyle's Spring Creek PMD nymphs, #16 Trina Bubbleback PMD nymphs and #16 Brewer butthead comparaduns. The Harrop pattern worked especially well on selective trout that were hard to fool, like the 20" brown above the bridge that refused everything my client floated over him. Finally out of desperation I tied the CDC transitional dun on and he took it on the first cast. Grasshopper imitations have been working well in the afternoons on the inside turns near the bank, or sometimes right out in the middle of the river. Bob London caught a 23 1⁄2" brown on a hopper imitation in about 12" of water. The big fish slurped the fly and barely broke the surface, concealing his size with such a subtle rise form. After some nerve-racking moments when the fish buried himself in the moss a few times, he finally came to the net with a very proud client standing nearby.
Our new spring creek, which we are offering this season, has been a great success. There are 3 miles of spring creek water and only four rods are allowed per day. The stream varies in width from 10-40', with 20' being about average, and a series of riffles and pools that make it a classic piece of water. The hatches have been strong, with the pale morning duns being the dominant insect on the water in both #16's and #20's. Terrestrials work well like ant and beetle patterns, along with hopper patterns to imitate the numerous grasshoppers that live in the fields adjacent to the stream. A few weeks ago we had a huge wind come up in the afternoon out of the southwest. Every pool had at least 3-4 grasshoppers floating and kicking around, and the trout were voracious. My client had a record day landing big strong rainbows in the 18-20" range all afternoon.
We've had some great days on the Bitterroot this summer, mostly on dry flies like Swisher's PMX which is an attractor pattern or Carlson's Purple Haze. The cutthroat trout are in such great shape and range up to 18" along with plenty of rainbows and browns that go even larger. The Bitterroot is a beautiful river and it has some great holding water with all the submerged cottonwood trees and undercut banks which the brown trout take advantage of. The rainbows and especially the cutthroats are out in the open and many times on the inside turns in the gravel beds. Because of the different species of trout and their different holding lies they maintain, fishing the Bitterroot can be a lot of fun.
Our weather became a factor with our fishing due to the bright hot days that have held steady at 90+ degrees. We limited our fishing on the Big Hole to the morning hours and got off at noon. In the afternoons we would go to a nearby mountain stream like the Wise River, which runs through the lodge property and catch healthy brook trout and rainbows along with the odd cutthroat or brown trout. My son and I fished the Wise River and caught fish up to 14" all afternoon on terrestrial patterns like hoppers and flying ants. I almost caught the grand slam, that being a rainbow-brook trout-brown trout-cutthroat and grayling, but I couldn't find the cutthroat, which my son was able to land instead.
August and September brought some heavy rains to the lodge. This cooled the rivers and filled the springs which stabilized the water flows. August and September can be great months to fish Montana and there are far less anglers out there.
We have plenty of good weeks still available next season, so please give us a call if we can help you with your travel plans (406-832-3252).
Tight Lines.
Craig Fellin
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