FLOWS:
• Maiden Rock 475 cfs
• Melrose 516 cfs
• Glen 570 cfs
This brown ate a Sparkle Minnow!
VISIBILTY: Good at 3+ feet
The Big Hole River is currently dropping again after a slight bump due to some rain that jumped the flows to almost 550 cfs on the 13th. This put a little color in the river for a couple days but it has already cleared and the fish are back on the bite. Nymphs, dries and streamers are all catching fish so get out there and get some!
TACTICS & PATTERNS:
DRY FLIES: There are still good hatches of Mahogany’s mid-day and Beatis in the afternoon’s. Fish are eating them in the typical dry fly spot’s, foam lines, back eddy’s, and inside edges.
• Try a Biot CDC Mahogany, Parachute Mahogany, Purple Haze, Sparkle Dun or Cripple Mahogany Dun in brown size #16-14.
• Beatis patterns in olive or grey size # 18-16. Extended Body Parachute, Parachute Adams, Sparkle Dun, CDC Emerger, Cripple Beatis.
There’s never a shortage of beautiful scenery.
STREAMERS: The streamer game has been very good with the river dropping and clearing. I like a fast strip and pause, but a tight line as well as swinging will catch fish as well. Color preference will typically track the color of the water. Bright when the water is off color, natural and muted when it’s clearer. Although cloudy days will be your best bet for good streamer action, fish have been eating streamers on bright sunny days as well.
• Try a JJ Special, Lyle’s Choice, Yellow Yummy, or Zonker in Copper, yellow or white size # 2-6, Flash Fry,Trick or Treat, Olive Brown or Black Crystal Bugger, or Yuk Bug, Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow in size # 4-8.
• Try dead drifting your streamer under an indicator if the fish aren’t willing to make chase.
• Add a beadhead nymph dropper or second smaller streamer if you’re getting short strikes.
NYMPHING: Nymphing with two fly’s and strike indicator is still very productive. Let your flies swing at the end of your drift, as this often brings more strike’s than dead drift alone.
• Try a Pat’s Rubber Leg Stone, Chocolate Trout Retriever or Pepperoni Yuk Bug in size # 4-8.
• Soft Hackle Pheasant Tails, Prince Nymphs, Psycho May’s, Zebra Midges, Copper John’s and San Juan Worms in red, wine or pink size # 6-10.
• Egg patterns in orange, pink, peach, tangerine, yellow and green size #12-16. Try a Pettis Unreal Egg, Mcfly foam egg or Otter Soft Egg. You can peg a bead too but I prefer not to.
TIPS: October and November are brown trout spawning season so please be aware and don’t walk through redd’s as this is a detriment to future Big Hole River brown trout populations.
For more information on Montana fly fishing and guided fishing trips on the Big Hole River please contact Fishtales Outfitting.
(Report by Michael Stack – FishTales Outfitting – www.fishtalesoutfitting.com)
