It would appear that our weather has taken a turn for the better finally! The river levels have been popping over the past few days and water temps have been staying in the upper 30’s to low 40’s. Between the wind and the cold, the fisherman and the bugs have been slow to move, making for some tough days over he last 2 weeks. Over the past 3 days the river has been showing more signs of life as the days become longer and night time temps are in the 20’s and low 30’s. The Skwalla hatch has started to fish better near divide, with several fisherman catching good fish from Divide to Dead Zone in the heat of the day (3pm). The best dry fly action has been on Purple Chubs, tan and black Gypsy Kings, and Black Magics, all in size 10 or 12. There are some smaller BWO’s coming off when the wind is calm, look for trout sipping in slow, shallow tail outs and side channels chasing BWO cripples and Purple haze patterns in size 16 and 18. The nymph game is typical for this time of year with Pats Stones and San Juan worms leading the way. Other nymphs that have been successful have been large prince nymphs (10), red Copper John (10,12), and wire stones (8,10). The streamer bite has been slow and inconsistent because of the cool temps. Our best luck has been on Arts Pumpkin Bugger and Olive/Black Wooly Buggers with a bead head and lead in a size 4.
The Beaverhead has also been producing some good fish and has been a little more consistent on the streamer bite than the Big Hole. But even with blankets of BWO’s, we only saw 3 rises all day. The nymphs have been fishing well with a short rig. I like to put a streamer (Zonker, Miller Time, Belly Ache Minnow) on the front with a red worm or a green lightning bug off the back in a 16. and the total length of the rig is about 5 feet from the indicator. The moss is not in the river yet, so I have not needed to use anything other than an inline rig.
Just want to remind everyone that we are still on spring hours until May. Our shop is currently open and running shuttles from 9 am to 3 pm. These hours will continue until the end of the month and our may hours will be from 8 am to 4pm. If you would like to arrange a shuttle in the early morning or evening just call us on the shop phone, we live here! Also would like to remind folks that we are currently booking Andros Island trips for the 2019 season and if you are interested email craig@bigholetrout.com or lia@bigholettrout.com.
Here are a couple fresh pics. A skwalla and a mud pig!
