Fishing Reports Feeds From Bigrflyshop.com http://bigrflyshop.com/ Fishing Reports Feeds From Bigrflyshop.com en-us Fri, 18 May 2012 06:36:01 GMT http://www.bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports/rss UCMS <![CDATA[Pend Oreille River <br> and Tributaries - May 17th, 2012]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#3325 Recorded:  Sunny75 ° F Fishing: Fair

 The rivers are trying there best to make it hard to catch fish. After consulting various maps, forecasts, and river gauges I decided to head up to the Priest River, knowing it would be filling the banks but still running clear while the majority of other local rivers would be full of mud. I was greeted with water temps around 50 degrees, with 6+ feet of visabilty. I didn't connect to any fish in the river, but spoke with some local fly fisherman who reported success fishing for cutties and small lake trout on the east side of Priest Lake just south of Elkins resort. The lake itself was cold and clear, with a carpenter ant hatch underway. I decided to head northeast of the area and explore some of the tributaries which were all about to overflow the banks! Snow was encountered on north facing roads above 3000 feet, and I was glad I had the snow shovel in the car still after getting stuck a couple times. Sometimes you just have to see whats around the next bend. I predict the Upper Priest River would be a great option to float and chuck streamers the for the next month before the water temps warm up for the summer.


]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#3325 <![CDATA[Missouri River - May 15th, 2012]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#3307 Recorded:  Sunny86 ° F Fishing: Great

The Caddis are hatching.  I like caddis.  Drifting deep sparkle pupas early, tight lining emergers and soft hackles in the middle and watching a dry bounce down a riffle later in the day.  Its really good stuff.

Come get your caddis box ready if you have any holes.  We've got some great patterns.


]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#3307 <![CDATA[Smith River - February 18th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#367 Recorded:  Snowy32 ° F Fishing: Poor

It's winter up there.  However, permits were due this week.  Cross your fingers.




]]> Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#367 <![CDATA[Sun River - February 18th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#366 Recorded:  Snowy40 ° F Fishing: Poor

Frozen up.  Still a little wintery.


]]> Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#366 <![CDATA[Missouri River - February 18th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#365 Recorded:  Snow showers40 ° F Fishing: Excellent

The weather has remained relatively warm during mid day which is handy for keeping your rod guides not frozen.  Nymphing has been excellent on the upper stretches above Craig.  Hot head nymphs seems to be king.  The canyon is giving up some amazing streamer action as well.  As for which way to go... it's a coin flip.  Both are being very productive... choose your poisen.




]]> Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#365 <![CDATA[Missouri River - February 21st, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#370 Recorded:  Snow showers0 ° F Fishing: Excellent

Reports coming in have been saying that the midge fishing is as good as winter midge fishing gets... lots of fish caught on top water this past week.  Still the main program for catching the most fish is nymphing. Streamer fishing continues to be productive and better when it's slightly warmer.  


]]> Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#370 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 4th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#383 Recorded:  Sunny50 ° F Fishing: Excellent

Fishing has been very good on the Missouri.  Almost every person coming in the shop is reporting lots of fish up on midges.  Nymphing and streamers are both working well. Nymphing up high by the dam and Streamers from Craig down.  Hot head nymphs, scuds, lighting bugs, ray charles, sunkists, czech nymphs, and other such nymphs are all producing.  Try Keller's Good Night.  These warm days are going to make the fish active this weekend.  Bruce Berry is in town hosting Spey classes on the Mo.  Come in to the shop if you are interested.




]]> Thu, 4 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#383 <![CDATA[Salmon River - March 8th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#392 Recorded:  Mostly sunny41 ° F Fishing: Excellent

 I've been over here for the past three weeks now, and the river is really turning on.  Deadwater, the ice-dam that blocks flows and the migration of steelhead around Shoup, has busted up which has brought a push of fresher fish to the upper river.  Most efforts have been focused from Shoup to Salmon.  It has been warm over here lately too, making the river a little cloudy (which it always seems to be) and melting the ice sheets that have been on the banks.  In the mornings, the water temp has been around 38 and has been warming up to around 45-47.  For those of you who swing, you know that ideal temperatures for this technique are above 40 degrees, which this river is currently at.  Look for the fish to be less grabby than in the fall though.  If you like to keep hatchery fish, make sure that what you're keeping are destined for the smoker, these fish have been in freshwater for quite awhile now.

Fish have been caught on the swing.

~Cornfed



]]> Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#392 <![CDATA[Bitterroot River - March 8th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#391 Recorded:  Mostly sunny49 ° F Fishing: Good

 This river is finally waking up after its winter slumber.  I fished this river on Friday and Saturday last week and caught fish on nymphs, streamers, and dries.  The first of the skwalas have begun to hatch.  Although you tend not to see many naturals on or off the water, that doesn't mean the fish aren't keyed onto them.  We had around a dozen takes on low-profile skwala dries, all of which were big fish.  Give it another week or so until the fishing is strictly a dry-fly deal.  If you're looking to catch fish on bigger stonefly patterns, focus your efforts from Florence to Hamilton.  Look for the emergence of march browns and bwo's to happen in the near future as well.  There are also neumoras, little black stones, and midges on the water.  Look for this river to really turn on by next week sometime.

Suggested patterns include: Blooms skwala, godzilla skwala, hammerhead skwala, chernobyl style skwalas, griffiths knats, pulsating midge emergers, red copper johns, princes, red san juan worm, bh pheasant tails, red headed step child, epoxy back skwala nymph, 20"ers, JJ's, sculpzilla, sleezburgers, and buggers 

~Cornfed



]]> Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#391 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 8th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#390 Recorded:  Mostly sunny55 ° F Fishing: Great

The warm weather has been great.  Nymphing has been up and down up by the dam with reports mixed.  However when the wind is down midges are everywhere and fish are up and eating them.  Streamer fishing continues to produce well in the canyon section.  Baetis should be on the way soon.  Hot head and pink nymphs have been fishing well, as well as, zebra's, wd-40's, lighting bugs, etc. 


]]> Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#390 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 12th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#404 Recorded:  Windy55 ° F Fishing: Good

There have been reports of lots of midges on the water still... however it has been windy and sunny which doesn't produce the best midge fishing results.  People have been catching fish nymphing up by the dam.  Streamer fishing has been good on the lower stretches but outside of the canyon it is windy again today.  Three of us will be scouting the Mo all weekend and we will have solid reports coming soon!  Fish still will be eating under the surface so make sure you bring some emergers... the pulsating emerger in a size 18-20 in black should be a great choice.


]]> Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#404 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 13th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#407 Recorded:  Windy and Rain40 ° F Fishing: Good

 We fished the Missouri up high today on the dam section and caught fish nymphing.  Really rainy weather kept us mostly fishing nymphs although lots of midges were on the water and fish were up on them and easy to spot on the quiet water between breaks in the rain.  So if the weather cooperates the dry fly fishing should be great.  Smokejumpers and emerging midge patterns should take the top water fish.  We heard some stories of the streamer fishing in the canyon being unreal and that's where we are going tomorrow.  We used the hot head nymphs and pink traditional flies today without much luck.  We ended up getting all the fish landed on the Tailwater Charlie midge that is the fly of the week this week.  I think Zebra's and other standard Mo patterns would be good with the low clear water as well.  

Stoked for tomorrow!



]]> Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#407 <![CDATA[Blackfoot River - March 14th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#409 Recorded:  Flurries40 ° F Fishing: Good

 Floated Cable Car to Waystation yesterday.  The water temp. is still very cold (was around 37 at 2pm) up here.  We fished the river with one intention and that was to bring the biggest fish possible to the boat.  I had two bull trout that were 24"+ boil on a woolhead and one other brown that was 20"+ swat at my streamer.  Total, we landed four bull trout, two browns, and two cutties, all on slow moving streamers.  We could of easily had a 20+ fish day if we nymphed the winter holding buckets.  This river is on the verge of becoming very good.  Give it a week or two of warmer nighttime temps. and it will be fishing big.  

Suggested patterns:
Streamers: natural colored buggers, sculpzilla white, JJ's, white zonkers, flank heads
Nymphs: princes, pts, copper johns, the worm, pats, db stones, yuk bugs
Dries: not happinin

Cornfed 


]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#409 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 15th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#413 Recorded:  Sunny60 ° F Fishing: Good

The Missouri is still nymphing well up high.  Switch up your nymphs alot, many of the classics are not producing like normal.  The water is low and clear and lots of midges are the water, finding heads is spotty but doable.  Streamer fishing seems to be good on the lower stretches.  We fished Craig to Mid-Canon and started getting streamer grabs by the Dearborn... so if i were to do it again I'd either fish high and nymph/look for heads.  Or fish low and put in at Stickney or Dearborn and roll streamers low.  Fish seemed to chase the Yellow Yummy the best yesterday.


]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#413 <![CDATA[Big Hole River - March 19th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#424 Recorded:  Mostly cloudy45 ° F Fishing: Good

Fished the Big Hole in search of some early Skwala action to avoid the crowds on the Bitterroot.  Didn't see any Skwala's yet but probably fished too high on the river... fishing was great with the Big Hole standby "Terd and a Worm" (aka Pat's Rubberlegs followed by a San Juan Worm).  Lots of Rocky Mountain Bone.
-KK




]]> Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#424 <![CDATA[Bitterroot River - March 21st, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#426 Recorded:  Sunny48 ° F Fishing: Good

Fished the river from Florence down on Friday.  We fished nothing but dries the entire day and had around a dozen fish (all 15"+) come up and eat a skwala.  We also worked some of the sloughs and slicks for pike, but only boated one 3lb. largemouth bass (which I was more stoked about than a pike).  There were a lot of bugs on the water including: BWOs, midges, neumoras, skwalas, and little black stones.  It is only going to get better from here on out on this river.  Look for the emergence of march browns and grey drakes in the near future over here.  Its only gonna get better from now until runoff.



]]> Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#426 <![CDATA[Big Hole River - March 22nd, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#428 Recorded:  Windy55 ° F Fishing: Great

Fished the Big Hole both days this weekend from Salmonfly to Notch Bottom.  Nymphed really well with stonefly nymphs.  Thought "the worm" would be the big producer and it worked but not as well as stonefly nymphs...especially a purple prince nymph.  The eggs and bacon fly also gave up some big fish.  Lots of Brown and Rainbows averaging 16" and 2 over the 20" mark.  A few fish caught on streamers but no Skwala action down there yet, it is still in the teens at night which makes it pretty cold in the morning.


]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#428 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 24th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#431 Recorded:  Sunny55 ° F Fishing: Great

Brian Nielson at Finfetchers on the water today and here's the scoop...

Up and at em' early this morning for the second guide day of the year.  I drove through chilly temps and was in and out of thick fog all the way to the thriving city of Craig.  We slipped the boat in at the Dam and the fishing started off a little slow.  Within an hour we had turned  a few fish and finally found the right flies for what turned out to be the rest of the day.  We didn't  need to change up until well into the afternoon.  A firebead sow bug and a pink soft hackle  kept the rod bent all day.  My guest Mark  landed mostly Rainbows with a few Whiteys along with a token Brown  for good measure.  The takes were very subtle; set every movement or you'll miss the boat.  As usual for this time of year there were heads up when the clouds covered the sun.    I'd still fish streamers when given the chance.  Look for fish everywhere, we caught fish in skinny riffles and slow dead water.  

Also, saw a dead cow
www.finfetchers.com


]]> Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#431 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 29th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#441 Recorded:  Windy58 ° F Fishing: Good

KK fished the Missouri this weekend, as well as many of our friends and about all the responses out there just say ... "windy."  However, KK did get some fish nymphing.  Streamer fishing has been hit or miss, the lower sections of the river don't seem to be having as many good reports as the upper so far.  Most people are still nymphing up high.  Although, in the mornings (pre-wind) fish have been up and rising.  Sounds like the windy days will continue a couple more days.  Tie bwo's... they are coming.




]]> Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#441 <![CDATA[Missouri River - March 30th, 2010]]> http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#443 Recorded:  Windy58 ° F Fishing: Good

If you like extreme kite flying, kite boarding or any other wind aided sport you are in luck.  The time is now, get outside and play.  If you like fly fishing on the Missouri, take a few days and tie up some pink ligtning bugs, Griffiths gnats, Firebead sow bugs,  natural colored streamers of your preference and prepare for your next outing.  You also might want to clean that odd looking film out of your cooler....it makes things taste a little wierd.  When the wind lays down and the clouds move in be prepared to launch because the dry fly fishing has been outstanding under the clouds.  The key to success is cloud cover.  Did I mention clouds?  Look to your local hardware store for a cloud seeding machine and we are all good to go.  Thanks for stepping up.  All in all the Mo is fishing pretty darn good.  You can stumble and struggle on certain days but hey, that's life.  Fish dry with clouds, streamers are pulling in some very nice Browns in from Craig down to Mountain and nymphing below the Dam is your choice for good ol' consistent fishing.  Enjoy!

~Brian Neilsen - Finfetchers


]]> Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://bigrflyshop.com/fishing-reports#443