Fishing Reports Feeds From Bigskyflyfishers.com http://bigskyflyfishers.com/ Fishing Reports Feeds From Bigskyflyfishers.com en-us Thu, 2 Sep 2010 22:10:36 GMT http://www.bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports/rss UCMS <![CDATA[Bighorn River - August 15th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#851 Recorded:  Rain65 ° F Fishing: Good

Well, we finally got that break from the heat that I thought I wanted, but wasn't ready for.  It rained pretty hard on us on Friday, but the nymphing, and streamer fishing was good.  

Streamer fishing black seemed to be the way to go under the clouds, although fishing brown trout type buggers has been very solid in the sun.  Nymphing pseudo type nymphs was O.K., but the fish were really on Black Caddis Pupae, and anything small and black would work.  Worms are still taking fish, especially on the lower river where the feeder creeks were dumping in a little mud, and irrigation return exists.

The flow has dropped back to 2,500 cfs now, and should remain there for quite a while.

The hopper bite hasn't been ideal, but good anglers are still taking fish close to the banks (I mean really close), or twitching them in the middle.

Hot weather will return this week, so we'll see if it improves.

Tight Lines,
Jeremy



]]> Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#851 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - July 18th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#776 Recorded:  Mostly sunny90 ° F Fishing: Good

The Bighorn's flows are dropping.  It's 3,850 cfs as we speak, and will go to 3,500 cfs tomorrow at 4:00 P.M.  Flows will remain at that level as long as they feel comfortable sustaining them, but it could be for months. 

A special thanks to the Dickerson men, for spending part of their tour of the west on the Bighorn again this year.  Always a good time, and congratulations, Dave for the last day.

The water temp is holding in the upper 50's right now, but should drop a little when the emergency flood pool is completely evacuated.  PMD"s, and Yellow Sally's are coming off, and rising fish are available at most times of day.  The nymphing was good with immitations of the hatch flies, but a #16 tan soft hackle worked just as good for me yesterday.  Some Black Caddis are around, and I'd pumped a few out of fish yesterday, too.

Boat traffic was high, but manageable.

Hopper's are still small, but will undoubtedly become a factor in the coming weeks.

Tight Lines,
Jeremy



]]> Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#776 <![CDATA[Missouri River - June 28th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#697 Recorded:  Mostly sunny70 ° F Fishing: Great

Missouri River Report

I was able to spend a great week on the Missouri River, fishing below Holter Dam, and all of the sections down to Mountain Palace.  I very much enjoyed the fishing as the average size of fish was very impressive, and the action was steady all the way down through the canyon.

The flow was between 18,000 cfs to 19,000 throughout our week, but it seemed to help keep the bigger fish available, and in range for nymphing.  Sometimes the lower flows allow the bigger ones to disappear, and hold in water where it's tough to reach them. 

Although we caught some fish on PMD nymphs, our most successful tactics were fishing pink or tan soft hackles against the banks on the upper, and fishing a red chenille worm for a top fly in the canyon.   Pretty basic stuff, but when willing to fish lots of weight, and adjust leader length to your depth, kept us in constant action.

Thanks to the clients (you know who you are) for one of the more enjoyable weeks I've had in a long time.

DON'T FEAR THE HIGH WATER!

Tight Lines,
Jeremy



]]> Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#697 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - June 15th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#661 Recorded:  Mostly sunny65 ° F Fishing: Good

O.K., we're hanging in there at 9,500 cfs.  Nymphing is very good from the boat, as you might expect, but wading can very difficult right now.  The water temp is climbing into the upper 40's, so it's not prime time for San Juan Worm fishing, but it's getting close.  We're still finding mostly sowbugs in the fish, and I've been more consistently successful throwing "Soft Hackle" or "Ray Charles" type flies than with anything else.  Starting to see some Mother's Day Caddis buzzing around the lower river, but nothing much is happening with 'em.

Flows will almost certainly have to go up in the near future in order to accomodate the inflows, and the lack of available storage space for the water.  I'll keep you posted as we go along.

Muddy water from the feeder creeks has become far less of an issue, and you expect fishable banks all of the way down the upper sections.  Also, the spring moss is far less of an issue as well, but never completely dissapears.

Tight Lines,
Jeremy



]]> Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#661 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - May 26th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#579 Recorded:  Mostly cloudy55 ° F Fishing: Good

Well, from now until the end of July my main job will be to update the flow status, so here goes.  We're at 8,000 cfs right now, but we're heading to 8,750 cfs at 4 P.M. today (Wednesday, March 26th), and 9,500 tomorrow at 4 P.M.   The Spring rains have continued to come, and there's still a whole season's worth of snow waiting to come off.

What does this mean for the fishing?  The dry fly fishing of the spring is pretty much over, although you'll see a few baetis out most afternoons.  Nymphing can be good when you find the fish, but it'll be increasingly vital to have a boat to get around.  The fish are mostly full of sowbugs, and a couple of different patterns are about all you need.  I'm also getting them to eat a little olive midge pupae pretty well.

As the river comes up, the water's going to warm up, so this signifies the start of summer fishing, and the "worm hatch".

Where will the inflows will end up, I don't know, but hold on!



]]> Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#579 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - May 14th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#541 Recorded:  Mostly sunny60 ° F Fishing: Good

O.K., lots of flow changes to catch up on here.  The river's on it's way up to 5,000 cfs after several days of steady rain, and a pretty big increase in snow pack.   The graph shows that it's still at 4,000, but was supposed to go up in 500 cfs increments last night, and today.  I believe this ultimately will happen by tomorrow. 

I  took the water temp at around 42 yesterday, so it's right there where it needs to be.  The river's pretty busy, and with the limited clear water (Soap Creek and Mountain Pocket are still pumping mud), a lot of people are double floating, or just staying on the upper 3.
The nymphing can be pretty good when wading, and the boat fishing isn't bad either if the flows could settle out for a day.  Still seeing good hatches coming off, but we'll need to see the flows stabilize in order to see good dry fly fishing again, too.

Always an enjoyable trip with the Collins boys, they did very well.  Imagine how they could do if they could cast.



]]> Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#541 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - May 8th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#517 Recorded:  Mostly sunny45 ° F Fishing: Fair

Over the course of the week, the river now risen to 3,250 cfs.  Short term, it's made the fishing slower, and less predictable.  All the snow melt, and the rising river teamed up to drop the water temp back below 40 degrees.

Yesterday we finally had a relatively calm day, and a good baetis hatch, but really no fish up to speak of..  I think it's going to be a few days before everything settles out, and fishing improves.

Because of the snow on Thursday, Mountain Pocket  and Soap Creek are still pumping mud, and probably will for several more days.



]]> Sat, 8 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#517 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - May 3rd, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#508 Recorded:  Mostly sunny0 ° F Fishing: Good

Just a quick note to let folks know that the flow is going up to 2,500 cfs tomorrow (Tuesday, 5/3/10), and will also be increased on Wednesday (5/4/10).  These flows are thought to be sustainable throughout the runoff season, and are a response to recent precipitation above Boysen Reservoir (WY).  I'm willing to bet that the flows end up going higher, but it all depends on how fast that snow pack comes off.  We'll see.



]]> Mon, 3 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#508 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - May 1st, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#506 Recorded:  Windy and Rain45 ° F Fishing: Good

Water temp is slowly climbing.  Bugs (midges and baetis in the afternoons) are still coming off in good numbers, but the weather's been brutal (windy every day, and very little sunshine).

With the rains, Mountain pocket has created some water clarity issues below the club on the right side, and Soap Creek is blown out.  I'd expect it to be for at least the next week, as we're expecting  more rain.

Nymphing is improving, although we're still battling the spring moss.  I've seen Rainbows showing some color, and you're able to find bigger fish right now.  Also encouraging is that you're finding fish in a little more variety of water when they climb up into some of the shallow faster stuff during the heat of the day.  The flow is 2,250 cfs, and if the snow pack continues to increase with these Spring storms, we may actually look at the possibility of some higher water.

Fish are getting a little wiser when dry fly fishing, but still attainable for the above average angler.



]]> Sat, 1 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#506 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - April 20th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#488 Recorded:  Sunny60 ° F Fishing: Good

The weather's been gorgeous.  I had the privilege of taking Jim and Corey Trewhella fishing yesterday.  For those who don't know Jim, he's the guy that's overcome so much in his life, that it'd leave you in awe.  Corey, and the rest of Jim's family deserve a lot of credit, too.

The river's mossy, and nymphing is cleanest on the upper Bighorn, so we stayed on the upper 3 miles.  Water temps around 40, and some baetis are coming off in the afternoon.  There are enough midges throughout the day, that you could easily stay dry fly fishing for the entire day (assuming the wind doesn't blow).   The river traffic is surprisingly high with pontoon boats, and rentals, but guide traffic seems to be down.

Anyway, we were nymphing a big midge pupae, and a little one for most of the day, but did get action on an olive wonder nymph, and a black quill in the afternoon.  Numbers of fish were good, but mostly caught smaller ones (perferct for Jim, as he'd rather not lose any).

I wanted to say a special thanks to Robert over at RO Driftboats for designing a handicapped accessible boat that provided anchor points on the floor for strapping down Jim's wheel chair.  Robert built this boat for Bighorn River Lodge, and they graciously let me borrow it for the day.  Thanks guys! 

Check out Jim's first fish in the "Client Photos" section of the photo gallery.





]]> Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#488 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - March 1st, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#378 Recorded:  Sunny40 ° F Fishing: Good

Yesterday was a long awaited day of fishing for me.  The river traffic was relatively low.  I floated the 3 mile-Bighorn stretch of the Bighorn River, and saw 5-7 other boats.  The water temp is cold, in the upper 30's.  I saw the expected bug life, midges (occassionally in clusters), and a handful of baetis duns in the afternoon.  I pumped some fish to find worms, sowbugs, and hundreds of tiny cream midges. 
The nymphing I would decribe as O.K.  We were able to catch some fish everywhere we tried, and on a wide variety of nymph patterns, but had to work fairly hard for them.  I streamer fished my behind off to move just a few fish.  The best part of the day for me was the midge fishing in the morning.  I was able to get on a pod of eager fish, while throwing a simple midge single dry fly with a tuft of CDC pointing upwards (what's called the "Smokejumper").  It's easy to see, and seamed to be all I needed to catch the risers I could approach.
We had a good time, and enjoyed some sunshine and a nice variety of successful fishing.
The river's low.  The flow is listed at 2,000 cfs, but looks even lower as the river bottom is so clean (no moss displacement).

Please note that the warm weather had caused some low level runoff, and muddy water existed below Mountain Pocket (below the Denver Club's cabin), and Soap Creek.  It looked like you'd want to avoid fishing the right side of the river all together downstream of Soap Creek.




]]> Mon, 1 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#378 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - January 8th, 2010]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#329 Recorded:  Frigid20 ° F Fishing: Good

O.K., I'll admit it.  I haven't been out fishing myself, so this is a second handed report.  The river's looking clean, and very user friendly.  The Brown's spawn is coming to an end, and fish seem to be more into eating midges than scuds.  The water's cold enough so that you'll want to be out primarily in the middle of the day for the best fishing, then you're gonna get cold fast.  They're still chasing the streamer, so that can be a nice diversion in between nymphing the holes.

I'll give a first handed report as soon as I finish hunting geese, and replenishing my supply of tying feathers.



]]> Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#329 <![CDATA[Bighorn River - December 1st, 2009]]> http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#315 Recorded:  Windy45 ° F Fishing: Good

The river fished well at times, but not as predictable as it can be for this time of year.  I continue to pump worms, midges, and baetis out of the fish, but seem to see very limited rising due to the windy conditions.  I'm seeing plenty of clean gravel, and most fish are sticking to the areas surrounding the spawning activity, but I'm not catching as many fish on scuds and soft hackles as you'd expect. 

Streamer fishing was not as good as it has been, but still getting good action.

I'd rate the boat traffic as a 3




]]> Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://bigskyflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#315