Big Hole River 172 cfs Beaverhead River 572 cfs
Yesterday Art and I were doing a shuttle down to Maidenrock at about 11:00. The tricos were coming off in clouds so we stopped on the bridge to watch the show and what a show it was. From that vantage point on top the bridge one can get a birds eye view of the feeding frenzy below. In the deeper run the white fish were going crazy with their spashy rises while off to the side in slower shallow water a couple 20+ inch browns were sipping constantly and quietly. We leaned over the railing a bit to far and the biggest one spotted us and took off like a bonefish. This was a bit too much for Art to bear so we raced back to the shop and I got to watch the store while he grabbed his rod and headed back down there. He came back with some pretty tall tales which I was inclined to believe after what we observed from the bridge. Even after the hatch was over the fishing remained excellent as he had the advantage of cloud cover along with a c0uple scattered rain showers. He reported catching 4 brown trout over 20 inches on trico duns, spinners and emergers.
Late Friday afternoon Larry and Ann Bugni (who are building the new Blue Moon Saloon and Resturant next door) received their final go ahead from the county inspectors to open the doors. They expect to have the saloon open tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday at the latest and the resturant a day or two later. Ann said the resturant would be open for lunch and dinner for now and perhaps breakfast at a later date. This building is state of the art with a rustic decor complete with new high tech a/c and ventilation system. The walls and ceiling are made up of old barn wood and the floor is stamped concrete which looks exactly like wood. It even fooled the inspector who told Larry those wood floors in the restrooms were not up to code. Upon closer inspection he realized it was not wood but stamped concrete. There is a massive shoulder mount 7×8 bull elk hanging above the fire place. The other end of the saloon is high lighted by a huge antique back bar. The non-smoking resturant is separated from the bar.