Bighorn River Fishing Update April 15
River flows are now up to 4500 cfs as of Thursday afternoon. The water is looking great and the fish are spread out a bit more than before. There are still plenty of great wading options as well. The Spring crowds are arriving, but the fishing has been very solid!
I’d say we’re about a week away from prime dry fly fishing. We had a handful of fish up the past couple days, mostly on Midges, but there are more and more Baetis. The lower on the river you go, the warmer the water temps = more bugs. We need temps to come up just a degree or two and we should be in business!
Nymphing continues to be very consistent. The fish are still concentrated in certain parts of runs with the cooler water temps. Cotton Candies, Jellybean Sows, Firebead Rays, Carpet bugs are all prime candidates for your bigger bugs. The Baetis perdigon stuff is starting to pick up as well as midge pupa.
Streamer fishing has been spotty. You’ll move some fish here and there, but they’re not big fans of the sun and cold water right now! A sink tip is still a good idea to keep your bugs down in the deeper troughs.