So you think anybody can pass along facts on river conditions? Well guess what, if you follow FWP reports most people just get confused. If you listen to KTVM-NBC news you get the wrong report as what happened a couple weeks ago. They reported on the 6pm news that the only stretch of the Big Hole River that was open was from the mouth of the North Fork to Dickie Bridge. I got in touch with the producer and at first he argued with me. I told him their report was wrong and to listen to his tape. He came back and said they would correct it on the 10pm news, (damage already done). A couple stopped the other day who had booked a trip on the Big Hole. I asked why they didn’t show up for their scheduled date. They said they stopped at a popular fly shop in Livingston and they told them the entire Big Hole was closed. Like I said if you want the solid facts, get them right here.
Now for a good fish story and this just happened last week. One of my guides (a very good one) was guiding on the Divide stretch of river when he spotted a huge brown trout in this riffle. He had the clients at first drift a dry fly to him—no results. He then had them present a couple nymphs and still nothing. Finally he tried a streamer with the same results. He told the clients “something is not right here”. He waded toward the fish and lo and behold he discovered it was dead. Now normally a dead fish will be belly up in the river. This one was kind of wedged between a couple rocks, upright and the current made the tail move back and forth making it look very much alive. It was a big fish measuring 25 inches, girthy and not a mark on it. Very possibly the result of too many pictures. The clients and the guide got a good laugh on this when they told me the story.