The salmonflies made their appearance on the middle river last Thursday, and it has been full steam ahead since then. It seems to be a June tradition that the salmonflies hatch, the weather is good for a couple of days, word gets out, everyone comes to experience the great fishing, and then there is an extreme weather event. Last year it was snow, this year it was wind. We experienced some gusts of 50 + MPH, which was tame compared to what other parts of SW Montana received. Despite the wind, lots of people made it out on Sunday, and were still successful. Today, it has rained and sleeted most of the day, but fishing was still productive on top and with big nymphs.
Despite the rain, the river has leveled out and is in good condition. We hope that it continues to remain stable rather than dropping for a bit. The weather looks inconsistent over the next few days, which should help to keep the river stabilized. Even with the rain today, we are still seeing big bugs sheltering in the willows alongside the Big Hole. Additionally, over the weekend (when the W wasn’t dusting the smile off our faces), we started to see some golden stones and drakes. Monday should be stellar, with low sixties and cloud cover. Tuesday and Wednesday will be wet, but opportunities to streamer fish should be good. Hopefully towards the end of the week we will see some more stoneflies for the weekend warriors.