It’s been pretty nice down here on the Bighorn..
We seem to miss any weather that comes by and today’s light fog and cool temperatures is the worst we’ve seen in awhile. These 50, 60, and even 70 degree days have really moved the fish around and the slow shallower seams and shelfs have been getting loaded with fish as they emerge from their deep water winter hangouts. Midges have been coming off daily and baetis every afternoon you see at least a few, sometimes enough to get a bunch of fish up top for them. Fish have been rising to midges throughout most of the day.
- Nymphing: Beerhead Baetis # 18, 20. Tan Soft Hackle Sow Bugs #20. Root beer midge #18, 20. red midge larvae # 16, 18.
- Dries: Hanging Midge #20. Sprout Midge grey #20. Griffiths Gnat # 18 Comparadun BWO #18, 20. CDC Comparadun #18, 20
- Streamer fishing has been productive despite our bright sunny days. Working the banks and soft water with lighter sinking lines has been more productive than going deep in the troughs. Bighorn Specials #4 . Olive and Brown Zonkers #8. Bunny Leach #8 #10.
Give us a call or stop by the Bighorn Angler 406-666-2233 for Rooms, Boat Rentals, and Guides.
It’s been pretty nice down here on the Bighorn..
We seem to miss any weather that comes by and today’s light fog and cool temperatures is the worst we’ve seen in awhile. These 50, 60, and eve 70 degree days have really moved the fish around and the slow shallower seams and shelfs have been getting loaded with fish as they emerge from their deep water winter hangouts. Midges have been coming off daily and baetis every afternoon you see at least a few, sometimes enough to get a bunch of fish up top them. Fish have been rising to midges throughout most of the day.
Nymphing: Beerhead Baetis # 18, 20. Tan Soft Hackle Sow Bugs #20. Root beer midge #18, 20. red midge larvae # 16, 18.
Dries: Hanging Midge #20. Sprout Midge grey #20. Griffiths Gnat # 18 Comparadun BWO #18, 20. CDC Comparadun #18, 20
Streamer fishing has been productive despite our bright sunny days. Working the banks and soft water with lighter sinking lines has been more productive than going deep in the troughs. Bighorn Specials #4 . Olive and Brown Zonkers #8. Bunny Leach #8 #10.
It’s been pretty nice down here on the Bighorn..
We seem to miss any weather that comes by and today’s light fog and cool temperatures is the worst we’ve seen in awhile. These 50, 60, and even 70 degree days have really moved the fish around and the slow shallower seams and shelfs have been getting loaded with fish as they emerge from their deep water winter hangouts. Midges have been coming off daily and baetis every afternoon you see at least a few, sometimes enough to get a bunch of fish up top them. Fish have been rising to midges throughout most of the day.
Nymphing: Beerhead Baetis # 18, 20. Tan Soft Hackle Sow Bugs #20. Root beer midge #18, 20. red midge larvae # 16, 18.
Dries: Hanging Midge #20. Sprout Midge grey #20. Griffiths Gnat # 18 Comparadun BWO #18, 20. CDC Comparadun #18, 20
Streamer fishing has been productive despite our bright sunny days. Working the banks and soft water with lighter sinking lines has been more productive than going deep in the troughs. Bighorn Specials #4 . Olive and Brown Zonkers #8. Bunny Leach #8 #10.
We went to check out the lakes for the first time this year and all but one had enough ice to make them un-fishable. The medium sized 35 acre lake had about 25% open and was enough for us to get our drift boat wet and park it up on the ice shelf and throw some sinking lines with brown and olive zonkers.
The fish in that lake ate well this winter to say the least. Every fish had some serious heft and even though the water temp was only 35 degrees they were still running harder than the average 6 weight rod can really handle. The most impressive fish of the day was Will Parker’s 27" big-mouth rainbow shown above, I think this guy got so fat eating baby ducks and small rodents.
At the moment we have not been advertising these lakes aside from this fishing report, that will change in the next week or so. Call us if you are interested in coming out to check out these private jewels of Wyoming that only the Bighorn Angler can fish. This is an easy 60 minute drive so it can be added to any existing trip or it can be the trip… Don’t delay we have weekly rod limits in place to preserve this great pristine fishery just as it is. It will be ready to fish April 1 and it is pretty unreal.
This lil’ guy was the smallest fish of the day…
The weather this March has been very unseasonably warm and the forecast is for more warm weather. We have been on the water the past few days and noticed the dry fly activity getting less predictable. The upper three miles have been more consistant for midge activity. The glory hole has been hot and the trout have not been very picky, #20 clusters and a #20 parachute adams have been a good combo. Make sure you clip the tail off the parachute adams. The blue winged olives have been present from about 1:00 to 4:00 and the trout have been eating them well, a #18 comparadun has been doing well. The foam lines have been producing many rising fish, so keep your eyes on the seem lines. Nymphing with small sowbugs, midges and baetis have been very productive in the waist deep water and shallower. We have been using #18 gray epoxy-back sowbug and trailing #20 JuJu baetis and really putting the heat on many trout. If you are using larger than a #4 splitshot and are not getting down then the water is probably too fast for trout this time of the year. Remember we have not been boat fishing and have been looking for trout in the runs. pg
The midge fishing has been awesome the past two weeks. With the warmer weather forecast for this week the dry fly fishing should be some of the best of the season. The midges are coming of in large numbers from noon to about 4:00 each day. The midge clusters are small but are very productive, we have been using #20-#22. The blue winged olives are hatching from 1:30 to about 3:30 each day and much heavier on the cloudy days. Trout are rising everyday even on the sunny days. Nymph fishing has been awesome with small sowbugs and midge pupa patterns. I have been using an epoxy back gray sowbug #18 & #20 with a zebra midge, #20 & #22, as the dropper for most of the day. Streamer fishing has been good casting streamer to the bank, black and other dark streamers patterns have been doing well. The boat traffic has been very light for the nice weather we are experiencing right now. The warm weather has started run-off and pocket creek below the bighorn club. I would spend most of my day above the club as there is some discoloring on the east side of the river. pg
Winter fishing is at it’s best right now. Midges and some baetis are coming off during the mid-day. Nymphing has been good all day with small sowbugs and midge patterns, sizes #20-#22 seem to be the ticket. I have been using a #20 gray sowbug and trailing a #20 brass zebra midge w/brown thread body. Around noon the midges start clustering and make the trout much easy to catch on the surface. Before noon the trout are keyed on the single midges and the bugs are extremely small. I have been using a #22 dun cluster and doing very well on 6x. Around 1:30 some baetis have been coming off and on the cloudy days the trout have really key in to them. The Mayfly hatch has been lasting for about an hour or so then back to midges. Don’t let the cloudy cool days scare you off, it can be some of the best fishing of the year. Try to plan on shorter floats, A-3 or 3-B. Give yourself some time to fish the slower deep water. The water is cold and the browns have really come on the feed. pg
Hello All,
Things haven’t changed much since the last post of November 10th mainly because the weather has been so nice. We have had a couple of cold days, but other than that we have been enjoying our banana belt status with highs in the 50′s and even a few days getting above 60.
Needless to say this has delayed the browns from getting up on the beds. They have been hanging out in their pre-spawn holes for a long time now and this bunching up of trout has made for some great fishing. There are a few more redds every day and right now is really going to be the start of it with a peak in a couple of weeks.
When the fish are spawning don’t fish on or trample the beds, be respectful and if you see some brighter patches of gravel stay away The most fish you will find during the spawn won;t be on the beds and it is not good to pull them off of their spawning grounds. instead focus on the pools below the beds where the trout really congregate to eat all the eggs getting washed off the beds.
This congregation of aggressive rainbows and browns in the deep pre-spawning holes has created some great streamer fishing. Finding the right depth with your sinking line is the key in getting down to the fish. Once you find them though, there is usually a bunch of them there. Brown and yellow streamers like the Bighorn Special and Bighorn Bugger have been best. The yellow really seems to help the trout locate that streamer in the slightly chalky water we have right now.
Nymphing has been consistent with the trout’s main diet right now being sow bugs, scuds, and worms. There ar e some fish moving to the softer edges now finding that semi-slow water to relax in as the water temps are now below 50.
Fishing is good, come on down, mention this fishing report before Dec. 15 and receive 15% off lodging. Give us a call at 866-658-7688 or stop by the Bighorn Angler we are open daily from 8 to noon.
The weather forecast is for cloudy weather and we all know what that means, streamer time. The browns and rainbows get very aggressive on cloudy days in the fall, it seems to triple the number of takes on the streamer. The browns are just starting to spawn, we noticed only a couple for spawning beds yesterday. Over the next week it should really get going and the browns should really start loading up in the slower pools in anticipation of the spawn. The blue-winged olives are just starting to hatch on the cloudy days. The trout don’t need many mayflies on the surface to get keyed in. Don’t be afraid to be here fishing on the snowy cloudy days, it can bring great dry fly days. pg
The lake has turned over and the water temperature has dropped 10 degree in the last 17 days. Before the lake turned the temperature was 66 degrees at the afterbay dam and now is 56 degrees. The cooler water temperature has got the browns fired up and are starting to get aggressive towards the streamer. The spawn seems to be a couple of weeks off and the browns are loading up in the normal staging areas. I recommend using a fast sinking line in the deep holes and trenches. The banks are also a good bet this time of the year when the browns are on the move. The nymph fishing has been improving as the water clears. Last week the water clarity was about 2 feet and today it was about 4 feet. The guides have been using #12-#16 orange scuds and #14-#18 tan softhackles and doing very well. All the normal scuds, sowbugs, and mayfly nymphs have been working well. The traffic on the river has been slow and the fishermen going out are doing well. Give us a Call, and we can help you with setting for what seems to be a great fall season. If you like casting streamers to trout this is the time to be here. PG
