Sun River

What Fish Eat

BWO, Caddis, Stoneflies, Terrestrials, PMD, Drakes, Cranes


About the Sun River
The Sun is a great fly fishing river and is one of Great Fall's fly fishing hot spots. Here you can find great days and clear water a lot of the time because the canyon often offers shelter from high winds, and it is a tail water below Gibson Dam so the water remain fairly clear on the upper stretches.

The Sun River is full of history in Great Falls and may be one of our most unique offerings.  Biologists say the Sun River may have the most potential of any trout stream in Montana. The river starts with North and South Fork of the Sun which flow in to Gibson Reservoir.  From Gibson Reservoir to the diversion dam there are good flows and scenic fishing, however this is only a 2 mile stretch of the river.  Below diversion dam there is miles and miles of great fly fishing water.  Our private stretch on the Sun is up river from Simms, Montana.

The river is largely used for irrigation starting with settlers that came here led by the Gold Rush and Coronel John Gibbons in the 1870's.  When the settlers came they saw the resource as a way to spread water to their land and formed a number of canals and reservoirs, including Gibson Dam which was created in the 1820's, and is the largest reservoir.  The irrigation system and diversions was built so well that it is now capable diverting most of the Sun's water for agriculture.  

Today, efforts for better irrigation practices are being used by land owners and irrigation councils to keep more water in the Sun River and therefore the fishery is starting to thrive.  

The Sun is a great river system in need of steady water flows throughout the summer. Fly-fishing pressure on the Sun is fairly low due to much of the river being on private land and low summer flows limit the amount of floating being done. The flows on the Sun are often a local topic of discussion with the necessity to fulfill the requirements of agriculture and recreation at the same time.

This river has one of the most diverse mixture of fishing situations from slow warm water to quick mountain stream runs. In the lower section of the Sun, from Simms down to Great Falls, there are a lot of 18 + inch browns along with some descent size bows, not to mention some pike. There are many nights on this section that you can pull off at one of the lower bridges and catch numbers of smaller trout on attractor dries like Wulff's and Humpy's.

From Simms up to the diversion dam, just as you reach the Sun Canyon, there are a lot of 12 to 18 inch trout, whitefish, and possibly a grayling or two. From diversion up to Gibson Dam there are healthy numbers of browns, brooks, bows and a larger numbers of grayling. If you venture a scenic tour up Gibson reservoir, you will be at awe at the beauty of the high granite peaks and vast amounts of water. As you reach the beginning of the reservoir you will pass through a slim canyon where the North and the South Forks of the Sun dump into the lake. Here there are high numbers of bows, and brookies in the South Fork ranging from 6 to 10 inches. They have tried to re-populate the numbers of grayling so there are, on occasion, a few grayling that are caught. Up the North Fork there are bigger fish and fewer numbers. But the beauty of the surrounding area is enough to make the trip worth while.