Cold Weather-Hot Fishing

I’m finally getting back on track after getting back here a few days ago. The trip home was long and the airlines lost my luggage again but at least this time I didn’t have 5 pounds of frozen conch in it. It showed up a couple days later which is ok.

Yesterday was a cloudy cool day with scattered rain and snow showers most of the day. All the fair weather fisherman from the day before were no where to be seen. A customer called me in the morning and asked what I thought the fishing might be like on such a nasty day. I told him to bundle up, get his rain jacket on and get ready for some extreme fishing. He was a bit hesitant but they went all the same. He called me last night and again this morning with tales of many fish and many big fish. Ten were in the 18 inch range and one was in the 22 -24 inch range. Streamers were working and it didn’t seem to matter what color but he just reordered pumpkin buggers. Late afternoon it warmed up just a bit and a baetis hatch started and for about an hour they had great top water action. That’s what I call a good day of fishing.

It’s mostly sunny today but the next few days are for cool, rain, snow—not the best for working on your tan but great for the hearty souls who venture on the river.

The Big Hole is running at 890 cfs and has stayed close to that flow for some time now making for even better conditions. Visibility is more than ample at 2 to 3 feet.