Fishing Reports Feeds From Bigrflyshop.com

Missouri River - September 5th, 2010

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

65 ° F

Fishing: Great

Weather was a little cooler today. Cloudy off and on there was a decent caddis hatch coming off the whole time. We floated from Mid Canon to Mnt. Palace. Nymphing seemed consistent. Pheasant tails, caddis nypmhs, and we landed a fish on the Keller's Good Night as well. Late the caddis hatch was getting better as we were taking off. I think streamers will be a good idea as soon as the weeds leave. There are plenty of loose weeds floating on the lower witch makes the nymphing a little frustrating. However, there were fish to throw to on top nearly the whole way.

Missouri River - September 5th, 2010

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

65 ° F

Fishing: Great

Missouri River - August 19th, 2010

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

80 ° F

Fishing: Great

8/14/10
I am back form a short trip to Homer, AK for a family wedding. Got a little fishing in on the Upper Kenai with my good friend Fred Teleen of Mystic Waters. Great day on an incredible river. Good to be back on the MO. I was greeted with hungry fish below the Dam very eager to eat #18 black Zebra Midges. The number of risers has slipped quite a bit but you can still go out and find some very picky fish. Hoppers should be working better than they are, it seems to be a day to day affair. The Dam to WC bridge is the most consistent water by far. Black Zebra, Lil' Green Machines, WD-40, Sawyer PT's, Purple weight fly have all been getting good response. Did I mention the Black Zebra Midge? The recent rains should keep our H20 temps down a bit which will help keep the mighty MO healthy for the last push into September. The MO is in good shape right now with very minimal weeds for August. Treat our fish well. Put the heat on them and land them asap. Enjoy Late August.......Holy smokes it's late August!

-Brian - Finfetchers

Flathead River - August 10th, 2010

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

80 ° F

Fishing: Excellent

MIDDLE FORK OF THE FLATHEAD REPORT: The Middle Fork is fishing absolutely red hot right now. It has reached the perfect level making both wading and floating good options. There are A LOT of nocturnal stones hatching right now so make sure you have plenty of golden chubbies. Other major hatches include: Spruce moths, PMDs, caddis, brown drakes, and all sorts of terrestrials. There is no need whatsoever for nymphing right now. All that is needed to stay bent is a handful of "the chubbies," Potter's Spruce Moth, Modular drakes, and an assortment of attractors (purple hazes should be included in this catagory, just a hint). No need for leader less than 4X either. Good stuff over here right now.

-Cornfed

Missouri River - July 28th, 2010

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

77 ° F

Fishing: Excellent

If you're not on the Mo or haven't been the last couple weeks, you're missing out. I waded last night above Craig and there were more heads up within a hundred yard radius than I've seen up on the river the entire year. When I began fishing around 5:30 pm , fish were feeding on dead crap on the water. By dead crap I mean: spent pmds, cripple pmds, dead caddis, pretty much bits and pieces of spent bugs that hatched from the previous few days. By about 7pm the fish had keyed onto the evening caddis which were out in droves. Light, long tippet and drag-free downstream or reach casts are absolutely necessary. Persistence pays off too. Flies you'll want to have include:

Dries: D-duck caddis, Duck Butt caddis, Fertile caddis, S's CDC caddis emerger, Bloom's Sedge Hammer, Translucent pupa, S's Freestone Cripple, CDC Para-spinner pmd, Last Chance cripple, Film Critic pmd

Nymphs: Deep sparkle pupa, tung darts, ascending caddis, military mays, purple lightning bugs, S's CDC BB bubbleback, quasimodo pt, red headed stepchild

Streamers: What ever creation you have laying around. Big, small, it doesn't really matter. Expect a lot of fish moving to streamers, but don't expect all of the fish to eat.

-Cornfed

Belt Creek - July 27th, 2010

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

75 ° F

Fishing: Great

Nothing but good stuff on Belt. We fished it high yesterday (above Monarch) and it was silly. Lots of fish willing to eat anything from caddis to ants to purple haze. There was a smaller sized brown drake coming off under the clouds, which was pretty cool to see that high up. Stopped and checked Otter on the way home and it is still running dirty. It's usually the last water to clean up in the area and any rain whatsoever will tend to dirty it up. Look for hoppers to start working on both Belt and Otter really really soon.

-Cornfed

Missouri River - July 23rd, 2010

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

70 ° F

Fishing: Great

Everything is awesome now except.... the most intense Mosquito hatch of all time once evening falls. Fish are up all over on Caddis, PMD's, and then tricos in the morning. There have been lots of Yellow Sallys in the canyon sections. Sam fished from Craig to Dearborn last night and there was lots of caddis and fish up on them the whole way. Fish were a bit choosey still on fly patterns and couldn't throw anything at them. Try throwing micro caddis and the emerger is important to add to the back of the dry right now. Make sure to bring bug spray, mosquito netting, a buff, anything to keep them off of you. With the river fluctuations and wet season there is an insane amount of them around once it gets to evening. Ran in to Brian Neilsen in Craig and he had got off the water and said fishing was great for them as well. Fish are eating PMD dries, try Smith's Freestone Cripple, and of course nymphing a splitback pmd, crackback pmd, or cdc bubbleback pmd is all producing as well.

Belt Creek - July 23rd, 2010

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

65 ° F

Fishing: Great

Belt Creek and the tributaries are all in great shape. There are lots of bugs flying around including caddis, pmd's, and even fish being caught on hoppers already. Brian P fished Belt Creek last night and Sam was on one of the tributaries the evening before. Lots of fish caught on being caught on dries. Flies to try include Purple Haze, Purple Rooster, PMD CDC bubblebacks, Bloom's Caddis, Trans Emergers, Quigley's Split Wing Adams, and the Parrot nymph (fly of the week).

Missouri River - July 20th, 2010

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

80 ° F

Fishing: Great

Very good stuff on the Mo right now. Floated the Dam to Craig yesterday and it fished very well (minus the gale force north wind that blew midway through). At 5750cfs, the river is catering to both wade fishermen and drifters. Mid-day headhunting has turned from a here and there deal to an all day affair with fish looking up primarily for pmds and caddis. For the finicky risers, try a Bloom's ant with a Last Chance Cripple PMD behind it. The caddis have been coming off in droves riverwide, providing for some of the best dry fly fishing of the year as the day turns to evening. Cornfed caddis, Bloom's caddis, CDC submergers, and translucent pupas should keep you bent up. Nymphing throughout the heat of the day will continue to put the most fish in the boat with smaller lightning bugs, red head stepchilds, military mayflies, and C-N superflashes leading the charge, but you should also have some tungsten parrots and deep sparkle pupas with you. Look for hoppers to begin working within a week or two.

-Cornfed

Holter Reservoir - July 18th, 2010

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

86 ° F

Fishing: Great

The fishing is great right now and will likely stay that way as long as the wind doesn't reach gale force speeds. The walleye bite has been good during the evenings. Trick-or-treats and KK's FT Sleezeburger fished the best with a split or two ahead of them. The walters are holding in the 20-27' range, so a full sink is needed. Not much for trout, but I was moreso focused on makin shore lunch with walleye. Didn't have many oppertunities at carp. Good stuff at Holter right now.

-Cornfed

Missouri River - July 15th, 2010

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

80 ° F

Fishing: Great

Fished Mid to Pelican yesterday and it was really good. There are more yellow sallies and caddis out throughout the canyon than I have seen on the Mo in my life. That being said, there are very few fish on top eating them. Once the flows get down and stabilize to the normal summertime range (4-5K) it's going to be silly good fishing on top. Nymph rigs are still the go to setup, but I had more fish move to and swat at a streamer than I can remember for a mid-day, high sun situation. There were rising fish here and there in some of the more likely spots and they were pretty easy to catch as long as the drift was drag free (duh). Bloom's ant along with a cdc caddis emerger were the hot flies on top. Tungsten parrots, sparkle pupas, and purple lightening bugs provided the most consistent action for nymphs. Anything with a little white in it was good for moving fish with a streamer. Don't expect to hook a lot of fish on a streamer setup, but expect to move A LOT of fish. It seems like this time of year the bigger browns will come out and swat at a streamer more so than wanting to eat it; kind of a territorial response more than anything. Major hatches include: yellow sallies, caddis, pmds, tricos, a few callibaetis here and there. Good stuff on the Mo right now.

-Cornfed

Missouri River - July 9th, 2010

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

75 ° F

Fishing: Great

14,200 cfs flowin below Holter Dam right now. The Missouri is finally dropping! Nymphing continues to be very effective. Purple Lightning Bugs, Shop Vacs, Crayfish, Yellow Sally's, Hare's Ears, Pats Rubber Legs or "Marvin" for the Missoula crowd are all effective right now. Yellow sallies are coming off in droves through the canyon. Caddis are everywhere along the willows. We are very close to some of the best dry fly fishing imagineable. The fish in the Missouri have been on an extreme weight gain and muscle building plan. This is not proffessional baseball, no HGH or steroid use here. These fish are all natural. The lower river is starting to produce some heads along with certain side channls from the Dam down. Expect more and more as the flows drop. CDC Caddis, Bloom's Caddis, Spent Wing Caddis should fill your box. Good luck!
thanks.. Brian - Finfetchers

Belt Creek - July 8th, 2010

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

74 ° F

Fishing: Great

Fished the Sluice Box area over here the past few days and the fishing has been really good. The water level and clarity are absolutely perfect for this time of the year, but be sure that you have your feet set well while wading around in the creek cause it's movin. Nymphing smaller Pat's RL with a trailing formerly known as have been taking the most fish (as well as some of the biggest), but streamers like JJ's and b/y double screamers have been moving some fish too. Dry fly fishing has been pretty hit and miss for this time of year, but the brown drakes are finally starting to hatch and the fish are starting to key in on the adults in the evenings. If you're looking to fish this hatch, it is key that you are out until dark. Look for terrestrials and attractor patterns to begin to work as the water level drops and begins to create more holding/dry fly friendly water. I think that this high water has put some muscle on the fish up here b/c in all of the years I've fished Belt, I haven't seen the fish fight quite this hard. I also came across a carcass of a rainbow trout that washed up along the bank that was pushing 24", so the big boys are in here, it's just a matter of time before someone gets bragging rights.

Suggested patterns
Nymphs: Jimmy legs golden 8, Pat's RL 8, Thurminator golden 8, knotty girls 6, fly formerly known as 12-16, princes 14, flashback pmd 14, copper johns 14

Streamers: JJ's 4-8, brown/yellow double screamers, Coffee's sparkle minnow 6, yellow yummies 6, BH buggers 6

Dries: Chubby chernobyl golden 12, turks tarantula red 12, twisted X's olive 10, royal stimulator 12, adam's superfly 12 (absolutely killer drake pattern), purple haze 12-16, purple roosters 14

-Cornfed

Flathead River - July 6th, 2010

Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

58 ° F

Fishing: Great

MIDDLE FORK of FLATHEAD RIVER REPORT: We fished the MF over the weekend and had a lot of success. The river is running about average for this time of year and is the perfect glacier green color. We focused most of our efforts from Essex bridge to Paola Creek. For those who haven't fished/floated this river, you need to be very careful (there are a lot of class II - IV rapids on the river, but manly below Paola Creek access). There are tons of cutthroat in here and it doesn't take much to catch um. It was somewhat cloudy and rainy when we fished, but that didn't stop um from comin to the top and whackin a bushy dry. The streamer fishing was also really good, but you also have to be careful with the size of streamer you use because there is a HUGE population of native bull trout that are in the river that are protected. I would recommend those on foot and boat alike to focus their efforts in the higher reaches of the river because it seems to hold larger fish and is somewhat easier to manage on the sticks. As always, if you are headed over here anytime soon, call the shop and we will help guide you in the right direction.

-Cornfed

Blackfoot River - July 2nd, 2010

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

68 ° F

Fishing: Good

Fished Harry Morgan to County Line (Russel Gates) on Friday. Fishing was somewhat above average considering the clarity of the water. The NF of the Blackfoot is gin clear and the MF had zero clarity whatsoever. Nymphs worked, moved a few fish to the top, but overall streamers were the best. We caught the majority of our fish on black, but had some luck contrasting it with white. There were no more salmonflies out, but we did see a few golden stones, some green drakes, pmds, yellow sallies, and lots of caddis towards the evening. I'm sure that section of water has cleared by now and dries should be the ticket. If you do head over here, check the flow charts. If they're moving up or cresting, choose a section of water on the lower river. The closer you get to Missoula, the cleaner the water is.

Suggested patterns: Big R bugs golden, carnage stones golden, Kyle's king kong hopper (trim the red legs off the back and it turns into a killer golden stone pattern), madam x's, pmx's, elk hair caddis, sparkle pupas, purple haze, SJW, princes, copper john's, yuk bugs, JJ's, sparkle minnows, skiddish smolts, what ever else big and horrific your streamer box may have in it

-Cornfed

Belt Creek - July 5th, 2010

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

65 ° F

Fishing: Good

Belt Creek is fishable! It's clear...it's raining right now but hopefully that won't last too long. Wading is still tough, however fishing from the banks is possible. In a week the creek will be in really great shape. Savannah fished up high last night and got them eating caddis.

Missouri River - June 30th, 2010

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

70 ° F

Fishing: Good

Wow, the Missouri is still flowing right at 16,000 cfs. It is still very important to be wary when anchoring and rowing. No wading exists at this point. Fishing is good. Nymphing is still king if you want to put numbers in the boat. Wire worms are a good starting point with PMD bubblebacks, Weight fly, Silvey's Caddis, Shop Vac, 3 Dollar or Tungsten Darts for droppers. Yellow Sallies are everywhere in the canyon. I am still running 2X to the first fly and 2 0r 3x to the dropper. Two to three BB's for depth should get you into the strike zone. Fish are eating the nymph but it is still difficult to track down one eating the dry. Soon, soon. Heard a few rumors of anglers doing well with streamers but you know how rumors are. Might as well give it a try. Again, be careful on the Missouri it may look calm but she is rolling, rolling, rolling....
Thanks Tim and Walker for another great trip, love the group photos!

Missouri River - June 28th, 2010

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

72 ° F

Fishing: Good

The levels have lowered on the Missouri....... Fishing is starting to come back to the norm. We went from a double worm set up on Tuesday and Wednesday, to Saturday picking more fish up on scuds, caddis, and PMD stuff. Although a brown did puke out a 5" night crawler that looked like it came straight off of the harness. Few fish up here and there nothing real consistant. A storm roled in and kind of shut things down for a while. The flows are flushing the river out really nice and should be whipped back in to shape soon.

Missouri River - June 19th, 2010

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

65 ° F

Fishing: Fair

With the water this high, there are only a few fishing options on the rivers around here. The Mo being one of them. The Sun being the other close to town (although the lower sections will be very muddy, the upper section stays regular due to Gibson Dam). The Mo has been fishing okay to good for the amount of water in it, however, it can't be fished the same way we fish it when there is 3-4,000cfs. Deep nymphing with scuds, San Juan worms, disco worms, Eggs N Bacon, ray charles, Keller Goodnights, Tailwater Charlies and other like flies will be the ticket. Three to four split shots and the indicator all the way at the top of your leader will be necessary to get fish nymphing. Streamer fishing may be okay off the banks, although fish are sitting on the width of the river, when the water is up getting a streamer in front of the fish is the main concern, and fish on the banks are an easier target. Some new cool streamers in the shop include Keller's Sleezeburgers, and the new Ghostbuster Craw!

Rock Creek - June 11th, 2010

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded:

69 ° F

Fishing: Excellent

Very solid fishing on the Creek these days. You have the best of two worlds right now up here; Salmonflies on the sunny days and green drakes (my favorite) on the cloudy, rainy days. Fish are looking up in a bad way right now, so its time to load the boxes with big, bushy, grotesque bugs and get it while the gettin is good. The majority of the Salmonflies are from the Dalles on up to the forks and the drakes are river wide. The flows are up so be careful wading and be very careful floating. If you are floating through the Microburst area around mm 27 make sure you take the left channel. There are some downed trees that create an optical illusion that appears to block the left channel, forcing you right, but trust me you want to stay left. If your are headed up here soon, call us at the shop to get the latest info. on downed trees and sweepers.

Suggested patterns: Big R bugs, cat pukes, widow makers, king kongs, carnage stones, green drakes, werewolfs, H & L varients, royal wulffs, elk hair caddis, twisted babies, twisted X's, madam X's

-Cornfed