Bighorn River fishing report july 16

It’s almost there folks!  Water temps appear to be warming up just a bit more (high 40’s/low 50’s) as July keeps plugging along.  We’re seeing fish starting to move up into some of the faster shelves and more of an abundance of PMD nymphs.  There are a handful of PMD adults around and a good number of large Baetis as well.  I’m guessing another week or so and we should have the start of Summer dry fly fishing, but that’s just a guess..

The subsurface nymphing game is the best way to get into fish these days.  Wade fishing has been pretty darn good throughout the entire river.  Still moss below 3 Mile, but the Summer grass is really starting to grow and help filter it out.  Carpet Bugs, Red Bead Rays, Split Case PMD’s, Poxyback PMD’s, Tungteasers and Black Quills are the goods.

We’re seeing a handful of fish looking up even in the heat of the day with peak water temps.  They’re not pushovers, but once some more bugs show up, they might be.  Reports of some fish on hoppers and ants too!

I’ll let you know if anything exciting happens!