The weekend is approaching, and with it comes a favorable forecast for sun and warm temperatures. What does this mean for river and fishing conditions on the Big Hole River? The warmer days have brought increases to river flows, but only in certain sections. The lower river (think Glen), will most likely stay on the rise for the next few days. Meanwhile, the upper river (above Wise River), should see some decreases in flows at night, once the air temperatures drop down, and then turn back up mid to late afternoon.
Streamers, buggers with rubber legs and stonefly nymphs will be the best patterns to use. The Skwalla nymphs have been very thick between Silver Bridge to Melrose, and we have been finding them tight to the bank, in 4-6″ of water. This indicates that they should be crawling out of the water and getting ready to lay eggs, which of course, is dependent on water temperatures above 44 degrees. Start with nymphs and streamers in the morning, and if you see skwalla activity on rocks along the edge of the river, try a dry fly with a large copper John dropper. We have seen some BWO activity as well, in the #18-#20 range.
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